Are electronic devices destroying our society?

Post by **Sham** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 1:02 am

For centuries, we got our news in a rather crude way--a newspaper. Just over the last 20 years or so, electronics, communications, handheld computers and other devices have taken incredible leaps in making every type of instant connections worldwide a reality.
With these advancements, our minds are now expected to work at the same speed. We must multitask and our brains are not allowed run at the pace they were designed.
I realize there is no turning back on these "advancements", but are the modern changes in technologies destroying the world, and the people as we knew it?

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 1:30 am

I blame the telephone.

Post by **Sham** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 5:33 am

gyre wrote:I blame the telephone.

That may actually be the exact starting point in 1876. Prior to the telephone, if you wanted to communicate across the country, you sent a letter. Newspapers were the way you got your news and you belonged to a social club for your interaction with friends. Urgent messages were sent via Western Union. The pace of life back then was very different.

Discordia · Post by **Discordia** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 6:27 am

Technology is indeed destroying the world-particularly those internet message boards, they're awful...

ygmir · Post by **ygmir** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 7:30 am

I see it as a YIN-YANG thing........

yup fast communications, as often as not, wrong at first, since speculations are allowed and, can be changes fast.

but:

look how "secret" stuff, carried out by gov.s and individuals, is getting "outed", how things half a world away, are news withing minutes, allowing for responses world wide to tragedies that would have been localized, at best.

pinemom · Post by **pinemom** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 8:34 am

Yes, I agree. that none of us really knew about thousands of animals falling out of the sky, now we do, instantly.

Makes my mind wonder to much.

::Crawls back under pretty rock::

junglesmacks · Post by **junglesmacks** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 8:37 am

Don't blame the gun, blame the owner.

That's all I have to say about that..

Bounce530 · Post by **Bounce530** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 8:45 am

Since I work in print media, I wish everybody would put down their electric flavor of the month, and pick-up a newspaper instead..

Post by **Elderberry** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 9:03 am

Bounce530 wrote:Since I work in print media, I wish everybody would put down their electric flavor of the month, and pick-up a newspaper instead..

Unfortunately the print media will/is going the way of the dinosaur.

JK

Post by **Elderberry** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 9:10 am

Shambala wrote:For centuries, we got our news in a rather crude way--a newspaper. Just over the last 20 years or so, electronics, communications, handheld computers and other devices have taken incredible leaps in making every type of instant connections worldwide a reality.
With these advancements, our minds are now expected to work at the same speed. We must multitask and our brains are not allowed run at the pace they were designed.
I realize there is no turning back on these "advancements", but are the modern changes in technologies destroying the world, and the people as we knew it?

Changing yes, destroying no. And, it is change for the better. Knowledge is power, and the more available knowledge is the more powerful it becomes. Though that quote about people and guns is more poignant than might first be recognized in this conversation. People need to learn how to sort through all that is available and be able to discern fact from fiction.

There is an interesting book titled "The Watchman's Rattle" that talks about how the human brain is evolving to handle the new deluge of information in this technological age.

JK

Ranger Genius · Post by **Ranger Genius** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 9:35 am

I think you're giving the human brain far too little credit. The amount of information it's capable of processing is monumental; as is its ability to make decisions about what information is important and filter the rest from your conscious thought process. Sure, we get a little overloaded right now because we haven't established the protocols for what to filter out yet from the new sources of stimuli, but we're rapidly getting there. This isn't even an evolutionary thing, just a developmental one.

As for print media dying, it does seem that the newspaper is going to drift away as people get their information from sources that have a shorter lead-time, can update in response to events, and have a more global perspective. Is this a bad thing? My concern about newspapers dying is that no one else really does any investigative journalism. Television and internet news sources don't have or won't commit the resources to really cover a story the way newspapers do; sometimes it seems that watching CNN is essentially having a talking head read the latest NYT to you and then discuss it with other sets of flapping gums.

Post by **Elderberry** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 9:41 am

Ranger Genius wrote: My concern about newspapers dying is that no one else really does any investigative journalism. Television and internet news sources don't have or won't commit the resources to really cover a story the way newspapers do; sometimes it seems that watching CNN is essentially having a talking head read the latest NYT to you and then discuss it with other sets of flapping gums.

This is why the larger newspapers are really trying hard for the acceptance of a paid subscription model for news delivery on the Internet, where people expect news to be free.

My feeling is that they will be somewhat successful, as people chose the paid delivery as a means of judging/filtering the quality of the news.

JK

geospyder · Post by **geospyder** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 9:44 am

Every morning while drinking my coffee I read the local paper. Very relaxing. I also keep a pad of paper and pencil on the table to write notes on what to look up later on the internet

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 9:54 am

Ranger Genius wrote:My concern about newspapers dying is that no one else really does any investigative journalism.

Mine, too.
But the thing that really ruined it for the human race, on so many levels, for thousands--that's thousands, not three hundred--years was the neolithic revolution. We are only now begining to achieve the height we had then, and then we slam into instant weight.

Post by **Elderberry** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 10:25 am

geospyder wrote:Every morning while drinking my coffee I read the local paper. Very relaxing. I also keep a pad of paper and pencil on the table to write notes on what to look up later on the internet

Commendable.

However, I submit that if you get yourself an iPad, you will no longer need/want the paper version of the news.

JK

tamarakay · Post by **tamarakay** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 10:31 am

jkisha wrote:
geospyder wrote:Every morning while drinking my coffee I read the local paper. Very relaxing. I also keep a pad of paper and pencil on the table to write notes on what to look up later on the internet :-)
Commendable.

However, I submit that if you get yourself an iPad, you will no longer need/want the paper version of the news.

JK

oh i don't know. i love the rustle of the paper and the ink on my fingers. really, i do!

i've tried using an e-reader for books too. Doesn't do it for me. Reading is a ritual, a comfy chair, a lamp, hot tea/coffee, and flipping pages. love it love it love it. and sorry mom, but i still LOVE to dog ear the pages, and highlight/clip passages that stand out to me. books are cherished possessions.

tamarakay · Post by **tamarakay** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 10:33 am

but on topic, i think technology allows to much action without thought. to many things, said to quickly. the rush to get it out there first takes a back seat to getting it out there accurately.

however, i also love technology and the freedom it gives us to explore other people's worlds.

Sail Man · Post by **Sail Man** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 11:26 am

Bounce530 wrote:Since I work in print media, I wish everybody would put down their electric flavor of the month, and pick-up a newspaper instead..

My local papers halved they're size and doubled they're price. Everything they offer I can get online. Don't get me wrong, I prefer the paper having read it and collected the special issues over the years. However, they priced themselves out of my pocketbook for what little they ended up offering.

Risky · Post by **Risky** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 12:08 pm

Ranger Genius wrote:I think you're giving the human brain far too little credit. The amount of information it's capable of processing is monumental; as is its ability to make decisions about what information is important and filter the rest from your conscious thought process. Sure, we get a little overloaded right now because we haven't established the protocols for what to filter out yet from the new sources of stimuli, but we're rapidly getting there. This isn't even an evolutionary thing, just a developmental one.

Reminds me to re-visit the movie Johnny Mnemonic.

Simon of the Playa · Post by **Simon of the Playa** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 12:18 pm

Kid, I GOT ONE WORD FOR YOU...

"NEUROPLASTICITY"

oh god, i have been waiting for weeks to use that joke...

Post by **Elderberry** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 12:39 pm

tamarakay wrote:
oh i don't know. i love the rustle of the paper and the ink on my fingers. really, i do!

i've tried using an e-reader for books too. Doesn't do it for me. Reading is a ritual, a comfy chair, a lamp, hot tea/coffee, and flipping pages. love it love it love it. and sorry mom, but i still LOVE to dog ear the pages, and highlight/clip passages that stand out to me. books are cherished possessions.

You can do all of that on an iPad or a Kindle or a Nook. Even better, because you can notate your dog-ears, the pages give the illusion of flipping and can actually make the sound too, if you like; and you can search your highlights and notes. Now couple that with your comfy chair, lamp and hot tea/coffee and you're in the 21st century!

JK

Post by **Elderberry** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 12:42 pm

tamarakay wrote:but on topic, i think technology allows to much action without thought. to many things, said to quickly. the rush to get it out there first takes a back seat to getting it out there accurately.

however, i also love technology and the freedom it gives us to explore other people's worlds.

People drive to fast without much attention to thought too. It is the consumer of content that bares the ultimate responsibility of what he consumes and how he reacts.

JK

moonrise · Post by **moonrise** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 1:00 pm

Our local paper also charges almost triple for ads, it's now a free, thin edition....they lay the blame on craigslist, rightfully so.
(sorry bounce)

The New York Times and other great newspapers will probably succeed selling subscriptions online; most of my family have paid subscriptions or we read them at the library on computers.

craigslist has saved the landfills mindboggling tonage of waste, yay, but it's squeezed more than just local newspapers (Homeless Depot etc)...yet, it saves most of us, the little guy, some money in one or more ways I'm guessing.

OT: If they'd make these devices easier to use I'd stop destroying them, I've punched a few in my lifetime!!

Simon of the Playa · Post by **Simon of the Playa** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 1:07 pm

neural implant.

it's SO good.

Mojojita · Post by **Mojojita** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 1:13 pm

I love my electronic devices but my greatest concern is the change happening to the English language as a result of the abbreviations of structure and thought. Maybe it is not the change that bothers me as much as it seems an art form is being lost.

lucky.bastard · Post by **lucky.bastard** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 1:56 pm

things find their own level.., the current level at my house is the TV may be on but my daughter, my wife and myself will have our respective laptops out and working on who knows what...

i do not have very much hope or concern for our society..., that is to say if it gets destroyed i am sure something will replace it.. and we will call it progress.

Trishntek · Post by **Trishntek** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 3:47 pm

As referenced previously, there was an accountability factor built into the printed media. Information vetted, actualities obtained and kept in context, plus a sense of responsibility to sponsors and advertisers to be faithful to the facts.

Now that printed news is trying to keep up with electronic information providers, it has gone the way of sensationalism, plagiarizing and knee-jerk journalism.

The electronic media is a wonderful thing. But there is no vetting, there is no accountability and subjects are presented out of context on a regular basis. Information easily obtained is quite often incomplete. In our information age, it seems what is popular, infamous or fitting a certain mindset goes viral faster than what is true.

Rabbi Dali Rick · Post by **Rabbi Dali Rick** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 4:08 pm

Killer Zombie Robot midgets are what's destroying or society, fool. Ask mr. T...

the rebbi

ZeroandOne · Post by **ZeroandOne** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 4:25 pm

"Our"

beep.

Post by **Elderberry** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 7:17 pm

Trishntek wrote:. In our information age, it seems what is popular, infamous or fitting a certain mindset goes viral faster than what is true.

How true.

JK

Are electronic devices destroying our society?

Are electronic devices destroying our society?

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