[AtomicTom]

Anyone, ever think about this kind of thing over the last few years?

Don't you think technology could, or should be better than it is?
That things in life in general could or should be better?

I mean yes, people have their phones, as well as computerized cars,
along with basically everything else in life. However, isn't that all of
just on the surface? ..Or surface stuff?

All of it, is basically just like a new coat of paint on the same house,
or walls of a house right?!

Where are the cures for sickness, along with diseases that we all
genuinely needed many decades ago? And how come all aspects of
life haven't been made better? ..Why is it just the newest phone?
Or type of car? TV? Or technological thingamabob the only things
that seem to matter? When real life, along with real people should
be the focus.

And you know, to tell the truth, maybe it's because I have watched
too many sci-fi movies, along with shows over the years. But all of
the new technology, although cool to see and find out about. Does
not seem that great to me.😄 Because the phones are way way too
overpriced and seemingly all the same. While the new cars are like
Tyco Turbo Hoppers/remote controlled battery operated cars from
the 80's. That honestly should have way better technology than
being a big cell phone on wheels. And having everything in life
computerized is nice, not to mention helpful. BUT what if all of
those things stop working all of a sudden?

Suddenly we are all in the stone ages, and no one knows how to do
anything but download new apps and be good at video games and
making videos or posting on a social media. ..But the power is off
and you can't do any of it, so what then? 😮

Honestly, people seem to have known so much more years ago.
More about real life and how to do real things. Rather than basically
all of these technologically cool surface things which are almost
fake in a lot of ways. 😄

I mean are we just creating our own Matrix to be in?

Shouldn't or couldn't technology be better? And shouldn't everything
honestly be better than it is? People? And everything?

From people, as well as real relationships, family, friends, all of it.

What do you think about everything? 😉

 

[HobHoner]

I feel very fortunate to see life through different cultures and lifestyles. When I am in the States I live in a suburban neighborhood of what used to be considered the American dream. I own a home, have a car, TV, and all the modern conveniences. Then I also spend almost half the year in Thailand and some of that time is going back to my wife's hometown or village in Northeastern Thailand. Things have changed in the village as they have everywhere but they are still behind the west. I first started going to Thailand back in 2003 and it was much different back then. No smartphones, only adults drove motor scooters, and no western fast food chains people walked to where they were going. While I am exaggerating the old village life still exists but it is changing. Almost all kids have smartphones, they all have a motor scooter and there are now McDonald's, Pizza Hut, or Burger King within a short distance as a result, the younger generations have gained weight, it is pretty sad to see.

 

[GoodWatch]

Some of your questions are deeply philosophical and one of them I almost dare not answer. (What if indeed science found a cure for all and a way to abolish hunger all over the world? What would happen?). I often ponder over the things you mention and I see this in my volunteer work. There are almost no 'brick and mortar' banks and post-offices any more in my country. Leaving the elderly (>80) in confusion and bewilderment about affairs that once were simple and straightforward. Now they need a smartphone for this. Or go to an ATM where they feel uneasy to draw cash. But new phones, cars, TV-sets, and all those other things are part of the capitalistic system we are in. A system that is geared toward ever growing consumerism and timed redundancy. Whether you like it or not.

 

[AranaWhite]

Tom, you've waded out into the deep. "Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent." I'm not wise or inteligent, but I am interrested.

 

[pìrbíd]

It's everyday waiting till i have it all myself.Just one is solving it all.Technology is only working with aiming and the illness is like a hook moving as a sprocket.People will only move to something when it fits in their lives.When there is something missing they always starts to hate.The watch is only liked because of the need for an appointment for a sollution.

 

[Wrascal]

I'm waiting for the Star Trek holodeck - and a Star Trek replicator.

 

[Konnor]

Suddenly we are all in the stone ages, and no one knows how to do
anything but download new apps and be good at video games and
making videos or posting on a social media. ..But the power is off
and you can't do any of it, so what then? 😮

Honestly, people seem to have known so much more years ago.
More about real life and how to do real things. Rather than basically
all of these technologically cool surface things which are almost
fake in a lot of ways. 😄

I mean are we just creating our own Matrix to be in?

Shouldn't or couldn't technology be better? And shouldn't everything
honestly be better than it is? People? And everything?

From people, as well as real relationships, family, friends, all of it.

What do you think about everything? 😉

It reminds me of thought experiment that goes like this: Imagine time traveling was invented right now and you were to be stuck in medival times. How do you prove you're from the future? Those devices you hold ran out of power and you can't show people from those times "wonders of technology"? Well, you can explain electricity to them and how you can get it by burning coal and oil. But can you create a transformator? Can you even explain how electricity works to those people? How it's used to power things?

Basic thing to take is that we have became basically mindless "operators" of things we have.99%(myself included) has no clue how all of this works, we are just using it. And it's not only about tech, but pretty much about everything. I understand how pipelines work, but would I be able to build a working pipe system for a city would I be stuck in 13th century? hell no

 

[#four]

This pretty much sums up which stage we’re in now….

 

[FBPB]

Anyone, ever think about this kind of thing over the last few years?

Don't you think technology could, or should be better than it is?
That things in life in general could or should be better?

I mean yes, people have their phones, as well as computerized cars,
along with basically everything else in life. However, isn't that all of
just on the surface? ..Or surface stuff?

All of it, is basically just like a new coat of paint on the same house,
or walls of a house right?!

Well, technology has made leaps and bounds.. only it has been compressed into a period of history that you have been living through. Most people, when they reach a certain age, will say "it can't be better than this" and also "anything beyond this is useless".. Well, yes, and no. I can best illustrate this in terms of automobiles. The average European car from the mid to late 1990s was incredibly reliable and was still able to be worked on by a "shade tree mechanic". Today, not so much. For cars even from the mid 2000s you need to plug it in to a diagnostic computer to tell you what is wrong, but even then the computer can't tell you what is wrong in many cases (like with my Audi A6 from 2005).

At the same time, the technology to improve fuel consumption and the reduce polution has made incredible advancements, for diesel look at particle filters and AdBlue, which makes a modern diesel car more or somewhat environmentally friendly. That is a incredible advance in technology.

Petrol cars are now more efficient than ever before, small displacement with reliable turbos that consume a lot less than a 20 year old 2 litre (like my Seat Ibiza Cupra from 1997).

Also look at active 4 wheel drive systems and traction control. Many lives have been saved by these technologies, and people don't even think twice about them.

Where are the cures for sickness, along with diseases that we all
genuinely needed many decades ago? And how come all aspects of
life haven't been made better? ..Why is it just the newest phone?
Or type of car? TV? Or technological thingamabob the only things
that seem to matter? When real life, along with real people should
be the focus.

The cures have changed, gone are the "one magic pill for everyone" over to "tailored medical solutions for each individual".

There are some problems in society, mainly at this point fewer fat cats eating all of the pies, but this is how systems work, the come to a peak and need an adjustment or reset. It happened slower in the past, but as technology and communications speeds have increased, so have the speed of these cycles.

And you know, to tell the truth, maybe it's because I have watched
too many sci-fi movies, along with shows over the years. But all of
the new technology, although cool to see and find out about. Does
not seem that great to me.😄 Because the phones are way way too
overpriced and seemingly all the same. While the new cars are like
Tyco Turbo Hoppers/remote controlled battery operated cars from
the 80's. That honestly should have way better technology than
being a big cell phone on wheels. And having everything in life
computerized is nice, not to mention helpful. BUT what if all of
those things stop working all of a sudden?


Suddenly we are all in the stone ages, and no one knows how to do
anything but download new apps and be good at video games and
making videos or posting on a social media. ..But the power is off
and you can't do any of it, so what then? 😮

Don't take this the wrong way, but it sounds like you are getting older? Like a 59 year old friend once told me 25 years ago when I was still young: he had no idea what I was talking about in terms of marketing, and he was an expert in marketing in the 1970s and 1980s... Well, today I can't give a rat's arse about TikTok or Blockchain, but people are making their livings from it. Technology changes, the world marches on, the next generations rise...

In terms of phones, well, it depends on what you want? I buy Sony phones and put another OS on it. I buy Windows PCs and put Linux on them. They last longer that way?

In terms of cars, I buy older used cars, but pick the ones that last the longest (hence a diesel Audi).

This also reminds me of the saying "In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king". I too gaze upon the youth of today with puzzlement. But, if and when the electricity runs out, books will be popular again. Sort of like during Covid, people stuck at home, everyone wanted to learn something, from making bread at home to playing guitar..

Honestly, people seem to have known so much more years ago.
More about real life and how to do real things. Rather than basically
all of these technologically cool surface things which are almost
fake in a lot of ways. 😄

The wisdom of people in the past may have been better, but their knowledge, maybe not so much. We have the whole world at our fingertips in a super-computer that fits in our pocket. Access to how to do anything and everything. It just depends what interests you. No one has ever been able to do that in the past. It truly is exciting times.

At the same time, I don't think the percentage of people who know how to do something is any less than in the past, it's just that they all have an iPhone and can broadcast their ignorance on Social Media, so it's simply more visible. in other words, it's always been there, only now has it come more visibly to the surface ?

I mean are we just creating our own Matrix to be in?

Shouldn't or couldn't technology be better? And shouldn't everything
honestly be better than it is? People? And everything?

From people, as well as real relationships, family, friends, all of it.

What do you think about everything? 😉

As someone who is more or less socially inept, prefering to watch than participate, all I can say is that people are people. Everyone's different and part of being a human is learning how to live with all the other apes and their idiosyncrasies. If you think they aren't perfect, then likely someone thinks the same of you.. It's just perspective. Or, as the saying goes, if you are in a group of friends and are unable to indentify who the arsehole is, it's likely you....

Maybe some things have changed, but with instant information available, we get the good and the bad. And the bad burns a lot more brightly than the good.

At the same time, yes, today's youth are idiots, doomed to repeat the same mistakes we made, as we did in our youth in regard to our parents' mistakes. Because that's what humans do.

Thankfully, there are some people who go above and beyond that making the world a better place. It's just now it seems, from a Western standpoint, that the bastards are winning in the world. This too shall change.

 

[AtomicTom]

Wow, this turned out to be a really wonderful conversation everyone ! 😀🏆

I think a lot of us have pretty similar feelings on all of this because we
are living in the same time, as well as experiencing everything together.
And although I do agree that technology has made life amazing, I just
also think that things could be even better than they are. Because a lot
of times I feel like we are only making the surface seem shiny and new
within our society. While the real meat of things is just the same as it
ever was. As if we put new icing on the cake, but it's the same old cake
underneath everything.

I'd like the leaps and bounds in certain areas like with phones, or cars,
or AI, and computers, and robots, and automated this, or that, all of the
self checkouts, and ordering everything to each others houses in just a
day, or over night to be spread to other areas in life. From actually curing
the diseases that have been taking our family and friends away all of
these years, to just helping people in general who need it all over our
countries, as well as world.

And I also wish that people would stop thinking that they know everything.
Or are so much more advanced than people from years back. I mean they
may be great at texting fast, as well as posting on social media all of the
time, or have every streaming service. But do they talk to their families,
and friends, or neighbors? Or just retreat to their digital worlds? Do they
spend more time on social media than in conversations with loved ones?

Honestly, just have felt like for the longest time, that 'the rise of the machines'
is actually 'us' who are becoming more cold as well as robotic. And it's not
really the machines, robots, or AI that we should be worried about in the
future, it's us. ..Because although there are a lot of amazing technologies,
as well as technological breakthroughs. Many of them seem to be to areas
that really, genuinely are just surface things.

I mean all of these cool improvements we see every day are great, but
some times I see things, and I say to myself: 'hmm, not how I pictured
it.' 😄Because maybe I listened to my grandparents say we would be
flyng spaceships when I got my drivers license, 🛸or the diseases, and
hardships so many people have faced since the beginning of time would
be gone, or at least lessoned more by now.

Oh, and I wish people wouldn't get so caught up in these tiny technological
Matrixes so much. Because I feel like people genuinely seem to immerse
themselves in their phones so much it's amazing. And as a result become
too confident, or too cool to even talk to their family members, or friends,
or neighbors. Too much of the warmth we used to have is slipping away,
and I feel that yes, things could be better. Not just technologies, but people
in general can be better. 🙂And yes, you definitely have to worry about
all the kids today, no doubt. What will they be like 20, 30, 50 years from
now? ..Hopefully they surprise all of us. 😉

Yowza, I honestly love talking about all of this with you guys, and may I say,
that without a doubt, good old forums like this are one of THE best things
if you ask me. 😀Seriously, we get to talk about watches, and anything else
with each other as if we all live in the same town, or are in the same family.😉

So this is definitely one of the nice things in life. ..Thanks a bunch just for
giving your two cents on all of this everyone !!!

 

[AranaWhite]

Well, technology has made leaps and bounds.. only it has been compressed into a period of history that you have been living through. Most people, when they reach a certain age, will say "it can't be better than this" and also "anything beyond this is useless".. Well, yes, and no. I can best illustrate this in terms of automobiles. The average European car from the mid to late 1990s was incredibly reliable and was still able to be worked on by a "shade tree mechanic". Today, not so much. For cars even from the mid 2000s you need to plug it in to a diagnostic computer to tell you what is wrong, but even then the computer can't tell you what is wrong in many cases (like with my Audi A6 from 2005).

At the same time, the technology to improve fuel consumption and the reduce polution has made incredible advancements, for diesel look at particle filters and AdBlue, which makes a modern diesel car more or somewhat environmentally friendly. That is a incredible advance in technology.

Petrol cars are now more efficient than ever before, small displacement with reliable turbos that consume a lot less than a 20 year old 2 litre (like my Seat Ibiza Cupra from 1997).

Also look at active 4 wheel drive systems and traction control. Many lives have been saved by these technologies, and people don't even think twice about them.



The cures have changed, gone are the "one magic pill for everyone" over to "tailored medical solutions for each individual".

There are some problems in society, mainly at this point fewer fat cats eating all of the pies, but this is how systems work, the come to a peak and need an adjustment or reset. It happened slower in the past, but as technology and communications speeds have increased, so have the speed of these cycles.



Don't take this the wrong way, but it sounds like you are getting older? Like a 59 year old friend once told me 25 years ago when I was still young: he had no idea what I was talking about in terms of marketing, and he was an expert in marketing in the 1970s and 1980s... Well, today I can't give a rat's arse about TikTok or Blockchain, but people are making their livings from it. Technology changes, the world marches on, the next generations rise...

In terms of phones, well, it depends on what you want? I buy Sony phones and put another OS on it. I buy Windows PCs and put Linux on them. They last longer that way?

In terms of cars, I buy older used cars, but pick the ones that last the longest (hence a diesel Audi).

This also reminds me of the saying "In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king". I too gaze upon the youth of today with puzzlement. But, if and when the electricity runs out, books will be popular again. Sort of like during Covid, people stuck at home, everyone wanted to learn something, from making bread at home to playing guitar..




The wisdom of people in the past may have been better, but their knowledge, maybe not so much. We have the whole world at our fingertips in a super-computer that fits in our pocket. Access to how to do anything and everything. It just depends what interests you. No one has ever been able to do that in the past. It truly is exciting times.

At the same time, I don't think the percentage of people who know how to do something is any less than in the past, it's just that they all have an iPhone and can broadcast their ignorance on Social Media, so it's simply more visible. in other words, it's always been there, only now has it come more visibly to the surface ?





As someone who is more or less socially inept, prefering to watch than participate, all I can say is that people are people. Everyone's different and part of being a human is learning how to live with all the other apes and their idiosyncrasies. If you think they aren't perfect, then likely someone thinks the same of you.. It's just perspective. Or, as the saying goes, if you are in a group of friends and are unable to indentify who the arsehole is, it's likely you....

Maybe some things have changed, but with instant information available, we get the good and the bad. And the bad burns a lot more brightly than the good.

At the same time, yes, today's youth are idiots, doomed to repeat the same mistakes we made, as we did in our youth in regard to our parents' mistakes. Because that's what humans do.

Thankfully, there are some people who go above and beyond that making the world a better place. It's just now it seems, from a Western standpoint, that the bastards are winning in the world. This too shall change.

It’s surprising that you’re socially inept. You’re a great communicator. We have different world views, but when I disagree with you, I always appreciate the way you express yourself. That wasn’t my take away, just a surprising one. Thank you for the thoughtful reply.

 

[FBPB]

It’s surprising that you’re socially inept. You’re a great communicator. We have different world views, but when I disagree with you, I always appreciate the way you express yourself. That wasn’t my take away, just a surprising one. Thank you for the thoughtful reply.

Thank you for your kind words. Well, let's just say I do not like crowds of people and I am incapable of making small talk. I tend to be the person at the party who sits in the corner with a drink not talking to anyone, or spending the whole evening talking to only one person about subject we have both studied.

 

[AranaWhite]

Thank you for your kind words. Well, let's just say I do not like crowds of people and I am incapable of making small talk. I tend to be the person at the party who sits in the corner with a drink not talking to anyone, or spending the whole evening talking to only one person about subject we have both studied.

It generally takes drinks for me to be sociable, but I quit drinking.