Random Discussion

[Oldspartan]

One possible future emerges where everyone has embedded neurolinks. We will down load all knowledge, skills and languages. There will be a select few who refuse this bionic fusion and they will maintain the old ways. They will live apart. There will be no place for Luddites in the “brave new world “.

I think I will be a Luddy. I do not want to lose the thrill of learning by doing. I have little use for much of what passes for knowledge in my everyday life. Does not mean I ignore the inputs or recognize their effects on my life. Just means I have no interest in the mechanics of them.

I hope to never lose the actual hands on approach to what I do.

 

[Back in the fold]

I think I will be a Luddy. I do not want to lose the thrill of learning by doing. I have little use for much of what passes for knowledge in my everyday life. Does not mean I ignore the inputs or recognize their effects on my life. Just means I have no interest in the mechanics of them.

I hope to never lose the actual hands on approach to what I do.

Down with all Kings but King Ludd !

 

[JackGulley]

I don’t think technology is ever going to strip of us human nature. On the other hand, imagine how rich the culture will be when the internet has existed for hundreds or thousands of years! Can you imagine reading a blog post from Rome? The internet has changed so quickly in its short existence, it’s hard to imagine what it would even be like when it’s just another advancement that changed history, like farming, wheels, writing, steel, gunpowder.

 

[GaryE]

I am one of those Luddites who believes we should always analyze power dynamics.The choice of information we'll be able to download with neurolinks will probably belong to the owners of the systems. I don't see it ever being a neutral system where knowledge is respected for what it is. I remember the rosy optimism of the early internet, and now I see the most efficient system for delivering propaganda ever even thought of. Science is used to deliver anti-scientific messages.
We look at @WhistlingBadger 's image of the kid watching TV in response to music, and if you think about it, TV could have been challenging and exciting too. I'll betcha neurolinks will have forms of advertising, game show type things and scam sellers. The glass will always be full, but of air.
Spring clearly makes me cheerful.

 

[Oldspartan]

All advancements in communication are looked at by some as a means of control or at least a method off influence, and after all that is what communication is today.

I remember the internet of the 80’s. I also remember the biggest concern was how to monetize it. When my company joined that conversation I knew it would not ever be a means of “pure” data transfer.

That is a highlight of this forum. It is not polluted with a bunch stuff that has ulterior motive. Sure we get sidetracked once in a bit. This thread being an example. It appears rare and harmless however.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

The net is a mixed bag for sure. Many conveniences and an amazing amount of useful information, but at the same time, I think technology is making us dumber and more helpless. I think it's part of the reason I'm so drawn to hunting with primitive weapons, butchering my own meat, tanning hides, making acoustic music, hands-on, do-it-myself kinds of things...even though I use the internet extensively to learn how to do those things. It's my own little rebellion, or maybe a safeguard against letting myself get too lazy.

 

[GaryE]

We can look at the potential of tech, but we should never forget the early days of the internet which was battered by waves of porn. It was brutal, and hard to avoid. The net was monetized pretty quickly, and could be a dark place pretty early.
I think we're all reacting to the changes tech has brought, in many different ways. There are a few people on the forum who are exploring old ways of living, and who are making things with their hands. My daughters are into gardening, and they keep finding amazing heirloom plants, and circles of young urban people propagating them as a (I think) an attempt to escape.
Whistling arrows (or badger), old spartan - I read what you do with projects and it is very challenging stuff.
A lot of the people I know who are in the trades have their high tech skills at work, but they do woodworking with old tools, furniture building etc in their downtime.
I meet crafters - weavers, ale makers, rug hookers, needlepoint artists - people who do things machines can replace them at, because there's a joy in creating. People are relearning old skills. If I can encourage a local artisan, bring it on. It's something made for the pleasure of making.
I'm a history person, and in many ways I see our lives as like those at the start of the Industrial Revolution. Something is developing that we don't control, and we're getting really upset about it. We can all go wild blaming, but it's on no matter how much it scares people. I like this coping by literally carving out our spaces, and the craftsmanship it keeps alive. I think at its best, it keeps us alive.
It's not even living in the past, to me, as I'm seeing people do things that weren't mainstream in my past. Maybe they're skills my great grandparents would have saluted, but they are great skills and they're moving forward.
I just get by by keeping fish whose evolution goes back millions of years. I think with fish breeding, I'm tapping into my Neolithic farmer instincts.

 

[gwand]

I hear what you say but there is another side. Video games are actually used to improve the quality of life for some with disabilities for two basic reasons. Of course not all games fit into this.

1) On the physical level video games can help improve eye hand coordination.
2) On the mental level multi player interactive games of some types are used to help with social interaction and communication.

Still you bring up very valid things and I am also guilty

You might like this.

Groundbreaking Non-Invasive Universal Brain-Computer Interface Lets People Play Video Games Using Only Their Mind - The Debrief

A new universal brain-computer interface allows you to control video games with thoughts, offering both accessibility and ease of use.

thedebrief.org

 

[jaylach]

You might like this.

Groundbreaking Non-Invasive Universal Brain-Computer Interface Lets People Play Video Games Using Only Their Mind - The Debrief

A new universal brain-computer interface allows you to control video games with thoughts, offering both accessibility and ease of use.

thedebrief.org

WOW! Just think of the doors this opens as to robotic prosthesis for amputees and such!

 

[WhistlingBadger]

I've been playing Vivaldi's "The Four Seasons" for my kindergarteners, and letting them use their imaginations to draw what the music sounds like to them. For "Summer," amid all the blooming flowers, stick-figure soccer games, and thunder storms, one little boy just drew a picture of someone watching TV. It made me sad.

So, offering a bit of balance to this:

Every year I have my fourth and fifth graders write their own songs for their spring concert. As you might expect, most of the songs lean toward goofy and bizarre, which is a lot of fun. But wow. I have one fourth grade class that decided to write a song based on the Dale Carnegie couplet,
"Two men looked through prison bars.
One saw mud, the other stars."

They finished writing it this morning. It is about two prisoners of war, contains some powerful imagery, but it's vague enough that it could really be about any kind of captivity, inner or outer. Today it evolved into this mini-meditation on despair verses hope. The tune they came up with matches the words perfectly, and I was struggling just a bit to keep my eyes from blurring up as they sang it all the way through for the first time. Wow. After all these years, I'm still amazed with the things kids can come up with sometimes, if we give them the tools.

 

[gwand]

This naturally occurring molecule forms a fractal

The protein assembles itself into a repeating triangle pattern. The fractal seems to be an accident of evolution, scientists say.

www.sciencenews.org