Do You Think Technology Has/Is Evolving Too Much?

Question

People are starting to clone dogs, next they say, humans. An infinite realm of information is available to even the dumbest of people, by the internet. People are becoming increasingly obese because newer technology does all the hard work for them. Most of us are abusing technology. New weaponry, computer viruses, etc.. I think people are starting to lose the ability to think for themselves.

What can we do, as consumers, to keep technology under control, and not mistreat it?

All opinions are greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

I think each person just has to make that personal effort for themselves.  If we try to do it by governmental mandate or some other means of coercion, the law of unintended consequences will step in and make things miserable for all of us.

Personally, I don't think technology is advancing fast at all.  Believe me, in the coming years and decades it will accelerate enough that the present day will seem slow and primitive by comparison.  Some even foresee the coming of a technological singularity, perhaps in just a few decades, where the rate of change grows asymptotically.

The accelerating growth of technology is always harder for older people, but for the young who grow up in such an environment, to them it is perfectly natural.  This has been going on for as long as the rate of change has been noticeable from one generation to the next.

Answer 2

Although there are negatives, I think the positives outweigh them.  If anything is undeniably immoral, I trust the civillians to speak out and not allow such a thing.  I don't think techology has or is evolving too much at this point.  As time goes by people's lives are getting better and better on the domestic level, and technology causes that.  Think about the robot initiative in Japan...if they made a robot able to care for their increasing population of seniors, that would be great.  Then again there are fears of robots thinking for themselves and harming the world, but I believe most of those theories to be hype.  Just think about the Luddites who were against the Industrial Revolution...imagine us without it.

We as consumers must put our opinions out in public light and boycott devices that we believe to be harmful.

Answer 3

It's all in how you look at it. Perspective determines your life. Plato's cave was just one example.

Check out multiple perspectives on

http://concurrentconcepts.com

Answer 4

"If knowledge can create problems, it is not through ignorance that we can solve them." -- Isaac Asimov

Answer 5

a realm of information is available to the 'dumbest people' simply because knowledge is power. it's invaluable

technology is not the cause of obesity, its people themselves. they have the choice of either sitting home and watching tv all day or going out and playing sports with their friends.

yes, there is no denying that people do abuse technology, but if people are 'losing the ability to think', then why is our technology evolving so much? it's not upgrading on its own.

weaponry is created by people who feel the need to protect themselves from 'evil people,' not knowing that this kind of power easily falls into the wrong hands.

i believe that there is good technology and useless technology. Good tech consists of ideal inventions that help peopl, such as fiber-optic surgery, new devices for people with heart problems, and other innovations that help sick and disabled people get back their lives to the way they were.

Useless technology is stuff like video game consoles and HD TV and Blu-Ray. what do we really need it for? it's great, but it doesn't make our lives any better. don't get me wrong about the Wii though, the Wii-Fit console was designed specifically to help people lose weight in a fun and newly innovated way, and i think that's great.

sorry for the long rant, but i just have to put in my opinion to people who don't favor technology, or don't believe that it's helping us as a society.

Edit: well if you would have mentioned all that stuff in the first place, my answer would have been different. secondly, you said our opinions are greatly appreciated, but now you're correcting us?

Edit2: i see what you mean, and i think you're a very intelligent intellecual for challenging other people's opinions and having them think clearly about their theories and beliefs, but permit me if i may remind you that this is a question & answer site, not a debate forum. i'm not going to report you or anything, but someone else in the future might, if they feel unfair that their honest opinion is being challenged by a question you asked. but it's fine with me. i didnt mean to challenge your opinion of my answer, but pardon me if i was feeling just a little contradicted. ^w^

Answer 6

No, just not fast enough in the right direction.

Seriously, if we really took charge of our technology, we could use it to solve so many problems...

Back in the '60's, a bunch of guys with very little technical experience beforehand got us to the Moon 6 times.  Then we cut the budget for that to shreds (from 12% to 0.5%) and basically gave up on being ambitious.

Imagine what we could do with that proportion of funding today.  We could invent solar power satellites to harness sunlight in orbit, where it's never cloudy or nighttime, and you can build as big as you want, and the power won't run out for 4 billion years.  No global warming, no high energy prices.  Cheap and clean.

Now, Imagine if we applied that drive to fabrication.  We have, right now, a machine which can fabricate almost any 3-D object programmed into it out of a kind of resin.  Imagine if we advanced that technology to the next level, to manufacture goods directly out of bulk material (Sound like Star Trek's replicator?  Yep.)  And put a small version of one of those machines in every home.  Talk about putting a dent in poverty!

We just need to take charge and take responsibility, and grab some direction and run with it.