Has Technology Ruined Society?

RockinRolla · 02-09-2010 02:41PM #1

So here I am watching television, playing the Xbox, browsing the internet etc, and it's a beautiful day outside. Do I feel the need to go out? Of course not. What about past generations - people cycled to work, now they drive cars, obesity is up, society is becoming more lazy, global warming is increasing....

But what about our dream world, we now live in. We are becoming more introverted, we are selfish, we are manipulated through television to live life a certain way or purchase things we don't need, we live beyond our means - building castles on sand, increasing overdrafts, getting into credit card debt with impulsive buying and brainwashing advertising.

The worst of all is, we are constantly creating new ways to become less social. Facebook, Myspace, Bebo - all networks that allow us to talk to each other without shaking each others hand in the physical form. We are creating ways to become more isolated and distant from each other.

Is technology ruining society?

Cheap Thrills! · 02-09-2010 02:44PM

Yeah :pac:

Fart · 02-09-2010 02:45PM

Thats ROCK 'n' ROLL M8!!!!

Azureus · 02-09-2010 02:49PM

Only if you let it/are quite a boring person!

Its sunny outside and the ONLY reason I am online is cuz im stuck in work. I would much rather be in Howth eating fish and chips and getting attacked by seagulls.

''We are becoming more introverted'' > no Im not?

''we are selfish'' . no Im not?

''we are manipulated through television to live life a certain way or purchase things we don't need'' . no Im not?

''we live beyond our means - building castles on sand, increasing overdrafts, getting into credit card debt with impulsive buying and brainwashing advertising'' . Im pretty sure you know were Im going with this....

As for social networking, very entertaining in work and helps me keep my photos etc of experiences without coffee stains. I

technology.

mikom · 02-09-2010 02:49PM

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Take most people, they're crazy about cars. They worry if they get a little scratch on them, and they're always talking about how many miles they get to a gallon, and if they get a brand-new car already they start thinking about trading it in for one that's even newer. I don't even like old cars. I mean they don't even interest me. I'd rather have a goddam horse. A horse is at least human, for God's sake.[/FONT]

trebor28 · 02-09-2010 02:49PM

when you really think about it the smarter the human brain gets the lazier it gets!
everything in life is designed to make our time doing something shorter!
the bicycle was invented cause it was faster than walking, then the car was invented cause it was faster than cycling, the aeroplane was ....

who knows where or in what state we will end up in.

chin_grin · 02-09-2010 02:50PM

mikom wrote: »

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Take most people, they're crazy about cars. They worry if they get a little scratch on them, and they're always talking about how many miles they get to a gallon, and if they get a brand-new car already they start thinking about trading it in for one that's even newer. I don't even like old cars. I mean they don't even interest me. I'd rather have a goddam horse. A horse is at least human, for God's sake.[/FONT]

Some wimmins treat em like that in those awful videos on teh intarwebs. Scustin'.

danniemcq · 02-09-2010 02:51PM

Hang on, you are online, playing xbox AND watching TV? you must be a girl cause no guy can multitask that much

petes · 02-09-2010 02:52PM

Watching television, playing xbox and browsing the web?

How many eyes/hands do you have?

/edit dannie got there before me!!

WindSock · 02-09-2010 02:52PM

Technology hasn't ruined society, it has just changed how people interact. There are many more doors open now, socially imo.

Banned Account · 02-09-2010 02:52PM

trebor28 wrote: »

when you really think about it the smarter the human brain gets the lazier it gets!
everything in life is designed to make our time doing something shorter!
the bicycle was invented cause it was faster than walking, then the car was invented cause it was faster than cycling, the aeroplane was ....

who knows where or in what state we will end up in.

This is true - many moons ago I dreamt of someone inventing a wonderous machine that would wash dishes for me. Now that I have one, I spend my time dreaming of a wonderous machine that will take the clean dishes out and put them away from me.

I call it the pursuit of egonomic living - truly a noble cause.

Dravokivich · 02-09-2010 02:57PM

I wouldn't say ruined society... but it has spoilt it... everyone expects everything to be much more quicker and direct now...

FreudianSlippers · 02-09-2010 03:02PM

No.

/thread

02-09-2010 03:03PM

It hasn't ruined society.. The mobile phone has done more for social interaction than anything that ever came before it. That one thing alone makes any negatives worth it.

topper75 · 02-09-2010 03:03PM

I agree.

I stare at a screen all day for a living. There is very little interaction or chat involved in my job. I have a daily phone call with India. I have definitely become a lot more introverted since beginning work in the IT industry some years ago. I have witnessed this introversion in my colleagues as well when I suggest a cup of tea.

TV is so bad that its unreal. So much junk (not just ads) is fired at you but it is magnetic. Your laptop gives you control at least but you are still liable to become its slave. For all the enjoyment I have got from the internet, I'd pull the plug on it in the morning to be honest. Mobile phones mean there is no time to yourself. Friends can get funny if you don't answer calls/texts almost immediately.

The trick is to be conscious of this and fight it. I make sure my evenings are spent outside. I go fishing, cycling, picking blackberries, skinnydipping - whatever! Even in winter, I'll jog, I'll go to the pool. The last resort is a night on the couch watching TV.

Don't worry too much about society because even 20th cent dicatators with all their might couldn't control it. Worry about yourself. You have total control over what kind of person you are and how you spend your time.

King Felix · 02-09-2010 03:05PM

If you couple George Anderla's theory of the exponential doubling of information with the principle of negative entropy, whereby the more information entering a system leads to more order/less chaos in that system, I'd say technology will ultimately be a good thing for society.

up for anything · 02-09-2010 03:07PM

Rubbish. In it's day the pre-sliced pan was supposed to do much the same thing.

NothingMan · 02-09-2010 03:08PM

RockinRolla wrote: »

building castles on sand

Ok, You may have some points, giving that I am on holidays, backpacking around the south of Spain and here I am on boards, It´s 30 + degrees oustside and a whole city to discover but again I´m here on boards, now maybe you can attribute that to laziness, or maybe if my girlfriend woke up I wouldn´t have to get drunk alone (mmm beer).

But either way, I have not built a sand castle for years! So you´re wrong!!!

starbelgrade · 02-09-2010 03:11PM

danniemcq wrote: »

Hang on, you are online, playing xbox AND watching TV? you must be a girl cause no guy can multitask that much

I don't believe the myth about women being able to multi-task better than men. Just because you can iron & watch daytime TV at the same time, doesn't make it any truer.

NothingMan · 02-09-2010 03:12PM

topper75 wrote: »

I agree.

I stare at a screen all day for a living. There is very little interaction or chat involved in my job. I have a daily phone call with India. I have definitely become a lot more introverted since beginning work in the IT industry some years ago. I have witnessed this introversion in my colleagues as well when I suggest a cup of tea.

Eh awww!!! I also work in IT and over the last 4 years I have had more of a social life than ever. Probably because I can afford it. My IT colleagues and I have a great laugh. In fact any outsider would probably think we were all mortal enemies from the amount of slagging that goes on.

In short, you´re just getting more boring!

Deus Ex Machina · 02-09-2010 03:14PM

Technology is destroying society as it was prior to technology, but that is to be expected, the wheel destroyed society as it was prior to the wheel. Society is constantly evolving, any specific way of living is a transient condition, new ways of doing things emerge and change the way people live and engage with each other.

Having said that, I certainly don't think that we are necessarily determined by our surroundings, just because we have the option to stay in a use computers doesn't me we have to, we have a choice.

mconigol · 02-09-2010 03:14PM

If it wasn't for all this technology I'd have to be doing my job right now...:eek:

Earthhorse · 02-09-2010 03:19PM

trebor28 wrote: »

everything in life is designed to make our time doing something shorter!
the bicycle was invented cause it was faster than walking, then the car was invented cause it was faster than cycling, the aeroplane was ....

Come on dude, don't leave me hanging here.

King Felix wrote: »

If you couple George Anderla's theory of the exponential doubling of information with the principle of negative entropy, whereby the more information entering a system leads to more order/less chaos in that system, I'd say technology will ultimately be a good thing for society.

And what if I don't couple George Anderla's theory of the exponential doubling of information with the principle of negative entropy? What then, smart guy?

knird evol · 02-09-2010 03:22PM

RockinRolla wrote: »

Is technology ruining society?

I have one of those tefal things that makes a basket of chips in twenty minutes with one spoon of oil.

Now wheres your God ?

RockinRolla · 02-09-2010 03:23PM

knird evol wrote: »

Now wheres your God ?

I don't have a god.

danniemcq · 02-09-2010 03:23PM

Insurgent wrote: »

Watching television, playing xbox and browsing the web?

How many eyes/hands do you have?

/edit dannie got there before me!!

Great minds think alike... although fools seldom differ ...

starbelgrade · 02-09-2010 03:24PM

It all started in the Garden of Eden when Eve took that Apple off the serpent.

FreudianSlippers · 02-09-2010 03:24PM

knird evol wrote: »

I have one of those tefal things that makes a basket of chips in twenty minutes with one spoon of oil.

Now wheres your God ?

Oh... and the nespresso machines that make perfect cups of espresso!

topper75 · 02-09-2010 03:25PM

NothingMan wrote: »

Eh awww!!! I also work in IT and over the last 4 years I have had more of a social life than ever. Probably because I can afford it. My IT colleagues and I have a great laugh. In fact any outsider would probably think we were all mortal enemies from the amount of slagging that goes on.

In short, you´re just getting more boring!

In short, you're just getting pissed more often. All jobs enable that!

mikom · 02-09-2010 03:26PM

starbelgrade wrote: »

It all started in the Garden of Eden when Eve took that Apple off the serpent.

Correction: It all started in the Garden of Eden when Eve took that Apple Iphone off the serpent.

danniemcq · 02-09-2010 03:26PM

starbelgrade wrote: »

I don't believe the myth about women being able to multi-task better than men. Just because you can iron & watch daytime TV at the same time, doesn't make it any truer.

They can also nag, complain, moan and wreck heads in general at the same time.

(I'm so glad my GF isn't a boardsie

)

Has Technology Ruined Society?

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