Slashdot Mirror
Old and New Technology in the Land of None
ninthwave writes "The Guardian has this article on the adventures of piano tuners in the Amazon. I think it is a nice lesson in the age of technology to see the perceived hardships of using technology in areas where the natives are quite happy without. More impressive is the old wooden piano seems to survive better than the new synth but that is horse of a different colour."
A bunch of half-naked savages have no interest in tickling the ivories. What the heck maybe there will be a Wolfgang von Bushman?
piano tunes you!
Isn't it horrible how missionaries have managed to destroy so many cultures?
I remember when I was in High School that was really popular.
Do you know what wasn't popular when you were in high school? You.
Today it is very popular to tell you to shut the fuck up. I'm a trend setter. Shut the fuck up.
Why your post was modded up +5 is a mystery. It falls down on all major points:
1. You found an editor comment lacking in depth? That must be some kind of a joke. The Slashdot editors routinely add sniveling, irrelevant and/or misleading commentary to a story. It's a kind of stimulus-response mechanism: ring the bell and they drool.
2. Of course the synth doesn't replace the piano. It's an instrument in its own right, yadda yadda yadda. So what? The fact that it is not as durable as a piano still stands. This is remarkable because you would expect something that was built using modern techniques to last longer than something that was built using old techniques, but it doesn't.
So your post is neither insightful, as it misses the point completely, nor informative, as nothing you said was not already widely known.
Mod this down.
No, pianos were orignally called "pianofortes," not "forte-pianos." An otherwise excellent comment though.
I was originally going to tell you to "shut the hell up," but I have since changed it to "shut the fuck up. Both have excellent end results though.
So answer me this - there are plenty of people in the world. Why didn't these Christian missionaries travel to more populous countries, where their message could be heard by so many more "poor souls"? Why not talk to Muslims, Hindus, etc and save them? Because they aren't suckers, that's why.
These missionaries are not there to save or help anyone, they are only there to convert people because they have been told by their religion that is what they should be doing. Christians are the oldest form of self-propagating virus. "You can only get to Heaven if you are saved. The only way to be saved is to convince others that they need to accept the Lord Jesus Christ into their hearts." That is why they prey on people who haven't heard the message before, who are gullible to their fancy magical doo-dads. Was I there in the 50's, do I know this for a fact? No, but I know the way religious zealots operate, I have seen it over and over and over. I go with what I know.
Also, no one made them accept flip flops, t-shirts, ect. They have survived for hundreds of years without Christianity, flip flops and the Simpsons.
How do you know they didn't make them? I am sure a handgun is a pretty scary thing to someone like them. Or maybe you prefer the image of eternal fire if you don't believe what we tell you to believe. And we believe you should cover your bodies. You'll like these shoes, Jesus wore them! I know you are joking about the Simpsons, but imagine them watching the episode where Homer was the missionary. ("I don't know much about God, but I know we built a pretty good cage for him.")
You are right, they had survived hundreds, if not thousands, of years without Christianity - so why not let them be?
My beliefs do not require that you agree with them.