The Day Einstein Feared Has Finally Arrived

POSTED BY: 1kiki
UPDATED: Thursday, March 19, 2015 04:35
VIEWED: 12444
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1KIKI

Sunday, March 15, 2015 5:02 AM

make mine a double

SAGAN: We are releasing vast quantities of carbon dioxide, increasing the greenhouse effect. It may not take much to destabilize the Earth's climate, to convert this heaven, our only home in the cosmos, into a kind of hell.

SIGNYM

Sunday, March 15, 2015 7:45 AM

G, have you ever troubleshot a gas chromatograph- mass spectrometer- flame ionization detector? An ion chromatograph? Redesigned and rebuilt analytical instruments? Helped design a labwide database which is intuitive enough to be used without detailed instruction, and flexible enough to accommodate additions in the future? Designed several new analytical methods?

That's "technology", and that's the "technology" that I know a lot more than you, certainly. I use computers because I have to, not because I'm an expert but because it's part of my job (where almost all data is acquired by, processed with, and stored in computers)

So, have YOU ever built a computer, or written a program? Hmmm... you've never answered those questions. Is it possible that you're the one who's deflecting?

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The smart phone is just a security blanket for big kids. Studies have shown that people can become dependent on them ... to the point of suffering from anxiety (sweating, increased heart rate etc) if they're forced to be separated from them for any length of time. Like any dependency, the addict will rationalize all kinds of reasons why their activity is GOOD for them.

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You can't build a nation with bombs. You can't create a society with guns.

SIGNYM

Sunday, March 15, 2015 12:11 PM

Oh, and BTW ... if a nine-year-old Microsoft "expert" is your prime example of how young people just know technology better ...

Well, I don't want to pick too hard because he IS just a little kid from an impoverished nation, but everyone who's ever done anything important with computers doesn't use Microsoft. It's buggy, insecure, unpredictable, and lacks horsepower.

Do you think that the world wide web uses MS-based servers? That AI runs on Win8? That large databases or distributed computing runs on Windows? Everybody who does anything real with computers knows that REAL experts don't do Windows!

Like I said, I'm not an expert, but I know one. He's older than me - and that's saying something!- and if he doesn't know something about computers, it really isn't worth knowing. He's spent an entire LIFETIME learning, and not just about computers. Some day, if that unfortunate little kid gets unstuck from Microsoft (poor sod) he might actually do something worth note.

But here's the lesson you should draw from this: Nobody can spend an entire life learning if you think you already know everything.

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You can't build a nation with bombs. You can't create a society with guns.

DEVERSE

Sunday, March 15, 2015 8:04 PM

I have taught university classes for just over 22 years, about 12 weeks a year as a sessional lecturer. When I started teaching, the course had a compulsory module on computer usage that was being phased out as most of the students were relatively competent on using a computer and getting them up to speed for the course was not difficult. The course has not had a computer module for close to 20 years.
The last little while there has been discussion of implementing compulsory computer classes again. Why? Because the majority of students entering the course have extremely limited computer skills, especially when it comes to CAD, databases, spreadsheets and even writing papers. The use of "writing centers" or "essay clinics" is also now common place at universities as students have poor writing skills and limited writing skills on a computer.

And it isn't just a local issue either, I hear the same thing from contemporaries across North America.

As for smartphone use, yes the students can text, tweet, instagram, facebook, selfie, surf the web and snapchat and outside of class have their face buried in their phones, but most need assistance in setting up the apps the university provides to assist them while at the university because they have to do a bit more than just download them.

The ability to use technology isn't a condition of age or generation; it's a matter of the thickness of the bozone layer the individual is surrounded by. The bigger issue is those who lack the self discipline to put the phone down and it is mostly the younger generation who have this problem. And it isn't just at university either, I see it when I am at work as well. Younger crew members are terrified to leave their phones for any length of time, even when responding to a call.
When mental health professionals (psychiatrists) recognize it and put a name to it (nomophobia- fear of being without your smartphone) obviously there is an issue. And it is predominant in the 18 to 34 age group and not because they know how to use technology, but because they lack the ability to separate them self from their "soother".

Oh let the sun beat down upon my face;
With stars to fill my dream;
I am a traveler of both time and space;
To be where I have been

JEWELSTAITEFAN

Monday, March 16, 2015 2:34 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by G:
Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Oh, back to this ...

Quote:
Her boasting about something about something a 12 year old can do is empty-headed bravado
Where was I "boasting"? Where was I demonstrating "empty headed bravado"?

Be specific.

BUMP

Do I have to quote your own posts back to you?
OK:

"For sure, I know more about "technology" than you do, and probably more about computers. (HINT: Have you built your own? Ever written a progam?) Clearly, I know how to access the internet. I can do searches. I can view Twitter all I want." I guess it makes sense for someone as conceited as you to not think that is empty-headed boasting.

Look, 9 year old Microsoft genius:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/05/17/marco.calasan.macedonia/

The only question is: what took you so long?

BUMP

I'm curious about your intelligence though... where did you find these?

"beyond lying online, and Twitter, FB, Youtube, and Instagram..."

do you have examples? Are they in the same thread where you lied/mistook me using MSM sources? You haven't addressed that yet - hiding?

Any examples? Denying? Avoiding? Deflecting? Lying?

The above part of G's post shows his complete lack of comprehension or working knowledge of quotes, belying his supposed superior skills.

Quote:

For others who think the cell phone is the end of social civilization:

Quote:

Maybe we should ban books and newspapers?

Are you stupid? People on a subway, not knowing each other, none of them driving a lethal weapon, none of them planning to group together, none of them ever expecting to speak to each other? How does this relate to any of the rudeness exemplified by the other examples?

I guess when you proclaim that you are a windows expert then we will all know you are retarded.

SIGNYM

Monday, March 16, 2015 8:14 AM

DEVERSE: Amen.

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You can't build a nation with bombs. You can't create a society with guns.

MAGONSDAUGHTER

Monday, March 16, 2015 5:09 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by DEVERSE:

The ability to use technology isn't a condition of age or generation; it's a matter of the thickness of the bozone layer the individual is surrounded by. The bigger issue is those who lack the self discipline to put the phone down and it is mostly the younger generation who have this problem. And it isn't just at university either, I see it when I am at work as well. Younger crew members are terrified to leave their phones for any length of time, even when responding to a call.

It's not all the youngsters, it's middle aged people as well. What's the story with people not being able to turn their phones off, or not answer them. I've been in meetings with people who insist on taking calls. I feel like saying 'unless someone is dying, do you think that call could wait 30 FUCKING MINUTES'

Technology certainly has changed the way we interact with others and the world around us, and I think it's sometimes frightening because the changes are so fast, we dont have time to consider the implications. And by the time we do, the genie aint being stuffed back in the bottle.

So here is the conundrum. We can communicate instantaneously with people all over the globe, cheaply too. But do we feel more or less connected than say 20 years ago? And secondly, has that communication added value to our lives. I think of this every time another beheading video does the round. Or I stumble across some troll spitting abuse and vitriol.

SIGNYM

Monday, March 16, 2015 9:30 PM

I wanted to bring up again the ideas of the computer expert that I know also. He's concerned that people are substituting calculations for understanding. Even people who have tremendous scientific computer skills quite often get entrance by their models. Climate change, for instance. This expert, who has designed cluster computers for complex modeling and who keeps in touch with some of the supercomputer climate modelers, has said many times that everything you need to know about climate shift can be put on the back of an envelope. The smarter our phones and computers get, the stupider we get, it seems.

It's a little but like substituting "contact" for communication. Just because we can CONTACT a gajillion people doesn't mean we're actually communicating.

I read an recent article on a study done by psychology dept in Waterloo who looked at a fairly large number of people ... 886, I believe .... and found an inverse correlation between smart phone use and IQ. Buried in that article was the summation of what nearly every article on learning and thinking has said, in one way or another, about human beings, and it went something like this: Humans have always sought to make thinking easier. Well, humans have always sought to make everything easier. But we evolved in a world where we exerted ourselves, and if you take that our of the equation then humans wind up being mentally, physically, morally, and socially flabby.

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You can't build a nation with bombs. You can't create a society with guns.

DEVERSE

Monday, March 16, 2015 11:14 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Magonsdaughter:

It's not all the youngsters, it's middle aged people as well. What's the story with people not being able to turn their phones off, or not answer them. I've been in meetings with people who insist on taking calls. I feel like saying 'unless someone is dying, do you think that call could wait 30 FUCKING MINUTES'

Technology certainly has changed the way we interact with others and the world around us, and I think it's sometimes frightening because the changes are so fast, we dont have time to consider the implications. And by the time we do, the genie aint being stuffed back in the bottle.

So here is the conundrum. We can communicate instantaneously with people all over the globe, cheaply too. But do we feel more or less connected than say 20 years ago? And secondly, has that communication added value to our lives. I think of this every time another beheading video does the round. Or I stumble across some troll spitting abuse and vitriol.

I don’t believe I said it was ONLY the younger generation, I said “it is MOSTLY the younger generation who have this problem”; referring to the addiction to phones.

Every age group has individuals who are addicted to their phone, but it isn’t as prevalent as it is in the younger (18-34) age group. Additionally, younger people tend to be socializing while older persons are more likely to be involved in doing business. Their fear of being away from the phone is that they will miss something important to their business; the youth are afraid they will miss a picture of someone’s lunch or what their “friends” are up to. Not an excuse, simply a difference in addiction.

Blaming technology for the failures in society is something I reject. The technology isn’t supposed to use people, people are supposed to use technology, and hopefully for the better. Blaming technology because people misuse it or are abused by it is just a poor excuse used by those who are weak willed and undisciplined and thus are controlled by technology rather than in control of it.

I am much better connected today than I have ever been and regularly communicate with people in North America, in Europe, in Australia and in Africa. Some is business, some is social. The ability to communicate instantly and cheaply has added value to my life and career. The difference is I see the phone as a convenient and advantageous tool that serves me and my needs/wants rather than something I must serve and pay constant attention to.

Oh let the sun beat down upon my face;
With stars to fill my dream;
I am a traveler of both time and space;
To be where I have been

1KIKI

Tuesday, March 17, 2015 1:09 AM

"... humans wind up being mentally, physically, morally, and socially flabby."

I was thinking the other day that people used to depend on other people - your family, tribe or village - for survival. In that sense your connection with other individuals was robust. But with the advent of complex economies (due to technology) people depend on systems. As long as they have a way to plug into the system for survival, they don't need to relate significantly with others. I think I'd call it the beginnings of being socially flabby as a species. And then of course you add the ultimate in non-contact technological connection.

SAGAN: We are releasing vast quantities of carbon dioxide, increasing the greenhouse effect. It may not take much to destabilize the Earth's climate, to convert this heaven, our only home in the cosmos, into a kind of hell.

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