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Is Technology A Bigger Story Than Donald Trump? (backchannel.com)
Steven Levy writes at Backchannel that "Technology and science is a bigger story than Donald Trump," arguing that regardless of who's president, future generations "will primarily regard these times as the era during which tech changed everything."
Remember, there have been economic crashes and horrible wars throughout history. But people carrying supercomputers in their pockets -- supercomputers that change their lives hundreds of times a day -- is new and earth shattering... we are doggedly optimistic about the future, and how technology, with all its black mirrors, will make life better.
He ultimately calls the rise of tech "the story of our time" (although in a semi-related development, American researchers are now worrying about federal funding cuts). And Motherboard warns that with Canada's new push to attract foreign tech workers, "there's a very real possibility that the U.S. could face a brain drain as some of its top science and tech talent moves to greener pastures."
He ultimately calls the rise of tech "the story of our time" (although in a semi-related development, American researchers are now worrying about federal funding cuts). And Motherboard warns that with Canada's new push to attract foreign tech workers, "there's a very real possibility that the U.S. could face a brain drain as some of its top science and tech talent moves to greener pastures."
Technology is a great enabler, but what changes society is who uses it and for what purpose.
If you had to describe the 1940s in a sentence, it probably wouldn't be "A lot of important new technologies were invented."
How can I believe you when you tell me what I don't want to hear?
I would just question the underlying assumption that improvements in technology will always makes our lives better. That's traditionally been that case in the past, but it doesn't necessarily follow that it will always be the case in the future. We could be reaching a point of either diminishing returns or even a point when technology actually could have a detrimental effect on our lives.
The internet is a good example. It's improved our lives in many ways, but it's also created a whole new class of problems, headaches, and information overload. Are we really quantifiably happier today than we were 30 years ago? Well, we certainly have much easier access to much more information and benefit from its convenience. But has it made our overall lives that much BETTER?
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
He is already reversing course on all the rhetoric used to rile up the populist vote.
Trump's supporters don't expect him to follow through on the literal statements he made during the campaign. Only his detractors took him literally. When he promised to build a wall, his supporters were not expecting a physical wall, just that they would finally see a politician take illegal immigration seriously.
Disclaimer: I didn't vote for Trump, but I know plenty of people that did, mostly relatives.
Think about it:
- Internet giving voters access to information outside the mainstream press filtering. Especially:
- Wikileaks.
- Snowden. (Driving dissatisfaction with the power structure on both sides of the asile.)
- Social media organization/recruiting.
- Jobs crash;
- H1Bs replacing white-colars in tech.
- Illegals replacing blue-collars.
- Tech replacing more white- and blue-collars.
And I could go on.
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
Lighten up, Francis. Trump isn't going to eat your baby, put you in a concentration camp, or start WWIII.
I feel like I'm listening to the crazy shit about Muslim Obama coming to take our guns away all over again, only this time the batshit insanity is coming from the left.
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
Republicans in congress will never impeach a Republican president. Party before country.
Very likely we wouldn't. Clinton was the "normal" choice. Trump is the much more newsworthy one. As a European, I can only say thank you. Because we're facing the same problem the US is facing: Disenfranchised, disenchanted and utterly disappointed voters that have zero faith in its politicians, and who also think that the media are basically nothing more than a mouthpiece of "the establishment", who are basically doing the same that many Trump voters did: Vote for whoever, if necessary a dishwasher, as long as it's not a politician of "the system".
This should now show us whether it makes a difference to vote for a loudmouth populist. It doesn't get any more loudmouthed or populist, and he has pretty much all the necessary means to do whatever he wishes to do to "fight the rotten system", both domestic and foreign.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Oven? Alright, gloves off - you are a fucking neo-nazi, go suck your Führer's cock if you can find it in the ashes left after he cowardly shot himself.
It's a shame there wasn't longer between Brexit and the US election, then you might have had time to see just how badly that experiment is working out. Having said that though, the US is seeing the same immediate effects - open bigotry and bigoted attacks taking a sharp rise, people scrambling to protect themselves before it all goes to shit...
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC