will technology be the end of america

[HighRoller]

open discussion

I know right now it seems like a time saver
I mean years from now where the average person 18-20 years old has grown up their entire life on technology.


spends there time with 1000 of mp3's on their ipod, downloading and listening
spends endless hours on facebook, myspace, uploading photos, updating profiles, talking to 2700 friends 30 seconds each.

texting 150 times per day


will they ever know how to focus, follow thru and get anything done when it's time to really get stuff done?

[KillerK]

no, but as long as they keep buying porn I am happy

[ADL Colin]

Originally Posted by KillerK

no, but as long as they keep buying porn I am happy

then your days of happiness are numbered

[Darkland]

This is a very interesting topic of discussion I have been having recently with others. I think that the technology in our lives to make things faster, easier, etc. has a damaging side affect. Call it Techno ADD if you will. I too have felt its affects.

I have noticed that my kids multi task like crazy. The can be watching TV, playing on the PSP and one ear bud in with their ipod. I am constantly telling my son to turn his ipod off, if I didn't he would never turn it off. His idea of social or family interaction is his ipod running with one ear bud in. If I make them focus on one thing they cant do it, you try to talk to them and they don't get it.

When I ground him for anything, take away his "technology" his response is to just sleep or lay in bed.

[John-ACWM]

It's very possible, but if you think about what could be the end....anything can bring it...scarry

[Barefootsies]

Imagine, as George Carlin has pointed out, the mass hysteria and chaos should the power grid go down for any extended period of time.

No electricity.
No gas pumps.
No air conditioning.
No heat.
No refrigeration.

[bronco67]

I've thought the same things myself, and even brought it up in another thread recently. All this fucking around has to have some kind of impact on us a nation.

I've already vowed never to work in an office again, mainly because of these young, gimme-gimme, self-entitled punk slackers who have never been taught the value of working for something. I think its going to bite us in the ass in a few years, if it isn't already.

[Khulan]

That is what I really consider about myself. I am too addicted too computer and social networking. I think we will be more dependent on computer and other stuffs.

[Barefootsies]

Originally Posted by Khulan

That is what I really consider about myself. I am too addicted too computer and social networking. I think we will be more dependent on computer and other stuffs.

You will be a slave to your corporate masters..

[brassmonkey]

if war keeps going we'll be under ground hiding from radiation

[XX_RydeR]

That movie Idiocracy comes to mind

[hdkiller]

i predict grey goo
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey_goo

[StuartD]

Technology is messing people up... we've become so very dependant on it.
Memory saving features? Great, most people have no idea how to remember anything! Take away their cell phone and they can't even call their own spouse any more!

However, as for the end of America, I think if anything was to do it, it would be politics. Either the politicians themselves flushing the US completely, OR... having the people hate each other so much that the country becomes divided.

[Rochard]

Last winter we lost power for about six hours. We had no idea what to do.

Technology has changed everything. When I was younger I used to spend hours in record stores trying to track down a song that I had heard. Now I can search for a lyric fragment and buy it online and have it instantly. People I knew in high school have recently started to crawl out of the woodwork and hit me up; Kids these days will never loose touch with each other. My daughter is eight and is already in touch with friends she had from when we lived in Phoenix via email.

Just the fact that you can look anything up at any time online is stunning. I can get lost for hours reading Wikipedia going from subject to subject. A few months back I was reading about the Russian Navy and discovered there is an old missile silo two blocks from my house.

[mhende6600]

It really is moving fast I remember when everyone used beepers

[Jarmusch]

It's a worldwide problem, it wouldn't be just the end of america

[RRRED]

Originally Posted by mhende6600

I really is moving fast I remember when everyone used beepers

omg beepers lol.... I forgot about that. It wasn't that long ago either.

I remember wondering if my parents only adopted me to make me get up and change the channel for them.

[tony286]

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200807/google
Is Google Making Us Stupid?

[BlackCrayon]

Originally Posted by HighRoller

open discussion

I know right now it seems like a time saver
I mean years from now where the average person 18-20 years old has grown up their entire life on technology.


spends there time with 1000 of mp3's on their ipod, downloading and listening
spends endless hours on facebook, myspace, uploading photos, updating profiles, talking to 2700 friends 30 seconds each.

texting 150 times per day


will they ever know how to focus, follow thru and get anything done when it's time to really get stuff done?

I don't think people really utilized their time before technology. If it weren't for technology you'd be spending all your time cutting wood, hunting food and many other mindless tasks.

[baddog]

Originally Posted by Rochard

Last winter we lost power for about six hours. We had no idea what to do.

Got hit by a tornado when I was in IN last year. Was without power for 24+ hours. Thankfully wireless cards and rechargeable batteries made it so the only technology we were lacking was television, and we had hulu for that if it was that big a deal.

Oh, and lost food in the fridge.

[HighRoller]

I agree with a lot of the stuff on here, let me add a few more ideas

I am about to turn 32. My friends I graduated with, hardly use technology or facebook, or any of that.

My friends 29, many do, my friends 25-27, do like crazy, those few years, they have 200-400 friends on facebook, and text, blackberry, etc etc.

I go to the self-checkout at the store, the vending machine at the post office, people 40+ and over just take soooooooo long to do anything. Everyone is expected to serve themselves now. I went to kinkos the other day and it was a nightmare their technology paper jams, etc etc.

I agree that you can easily look up anyone you ever knew, or any wikipedia info, but is that a good thing? Leverage of money ruined real estate and the stock market, will leverage of technology do the same? Obviously it won't be the end of America.

Another thing is that people over 35 grew up with 5 really really good friends that they would do anything for, talk to hours and hours on the phone or in person, know their families, kids, etc. They know likes and dislikes, they are there for them when they need them, today everyone has 2000 friends, or should we say acquaintances, and no real time for anyone, will people that are 20 today who grew up on technology find themselves at 50 with 10,000 virtual friends and not know what a deep friendship is, will they fill empty inside. Will they know the birthdays and the kids names, or will they just know they can always access that via facebook or something. Have 12 friends with a birthday the same day? who gets the attention? just mass mail them an e-card.

I mean e-cards are not the same as getting a real card and giving it to someone in person.

Don't get me wrong, I like technology, I just think to some degree it has made things worse, sometimes I don't want to learn one technology because 6-12 months later their will be one far superior.

I think everyone can get overloaded with this information age, and once you have billions of articles, ideas to consider, what will happen is you won't know what is real, what's fake, and how to make the conclusion yourself, you could spend your whole life trying to sort things out as a younger generation.

[quiet]

time to go build a cabin in the middle of the mountains near a lake, and become a ludite. i'm not really even kidding.

[tigermtb]

People fill their time.. if there wasn't technology there would be something else.

As far as the corporate world of slackers... Keep in mind most of those people have ever owned their own company and have no respect for it, either.

They only "work" because they need money... its no doubt people are miserable and unproductive doing what they don't enjoy.

[StuartD]

Originally Posted by tigermtb

People fill their time.. if there wasn't technology there would be something else.

Yes, but they've never had as much information thrown at them as they do today. That's the real concern, not technology.

Technology is ensuring that people's minds are constantly racing. Whether it be learning, communicating, problem solving or even just being entertained... their brains are currently running at high speed to keep up with it all.

People are finding it harder to shut their minds off at night, to get a restful sleep... people are stressed now more than ever over things they really shouldn't be simply because they can't relax.

People mistake being over worked for being overwhelmed. They have faxes and emails and voice mails to get to, and their office phone is ringing through to their home phone and their cell phone and they have post it notes that remind them to check the calendar in outlook that tell them to sync up their data on their phone and check on there to see what they're supposed to be doing in an hour. And they feel over worked because of it!!

And it's only going to get worse.

[After Shock Media]

Yes it concerns me. The net in particular allows for wackjobs, idiots, everything is a conspiracy people, and easily influenced morons to network and share bad ideas, and false information. Schooling them and turning them into connected super cells of pure ignorance armed with false facts.