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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?
Would people be running these stories if Hillary Clinton was elected?
There are times when science and technology does not trump politics. Everybody knows Einstein but also Hitler.
If Trump works within the system this will be but yet another presidency. This is what every American should wish for.
If he on the other hand breaks the US Republic his name would live on in infamy.
This unlikely to happen unless the rumor in intelligence circles is true, that the FSB managed to compromise him on one of his business trips to Moscow.
Trump is a liar already so he will be a single term president, and probably less than that.
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.
100 years from now that phone in your pocket will be laughed at if some idiot stands up and makes the claims that the OP did.
_ _ _ Go for the eyes Boo! GO FOR THE EYES!
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
So even though the people who elected Trump is broader, the basic tenet of isolationism and coal miners is still inherently anti-innovation. The wind mills and solar panels that are being installed in Texas and other states, and are going to be a significant part of the energy grid in the next decade, is an extensional threat to the unskilled workers who elected Trump. The semi-skilled service jobs that require an associates degree and significant computer literacy are beyond the average Trump supporter who thinks that they deserve a middle class income for doing work a computer could do more accurately.
Which further opens the path for Asia and Germany to take over the technological world. Our trains are not designed in the US, but in Germany. More of out high technology is not only going to be built, but engineered, in Asia.
"She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
Trump has a rubber-stamp congress, and is a single retirement or death away from having a rubber-stamp Supreme Court.
How do you figure that for a lame duck presidency?
Imagine all the people...
Trump can't actually use it because he has no tact - he's already been bitch-slapped by Paul Ryan, and that's just the start.
Republicans in congress will never impeach a Republican president. Party before country.
Partisans in congress will never impeach a same-party president. Party before country.
That's what we learned in the 1990s as well.
If you think I voted for Trump because of this post, you're wrong. I voted for Dr. Jill Stein of the Green Party. Again.
All politicians lie.
So was he lying when he said the election was rigged?
He didn't even pretend to tell the truth. Many people found his honesty about lying to be refreshing.
Do you have a clip or cite that you can show us where Trump made it clear that he was lying?
Did he happen to list the things he was lying about? Was claiming to be 'anti-establishment' on that list?
Were anything of the things he said true?
Yes, some of the things he said were true. For instance, he said that the polls were wrong.
Interesting. Did he say anything that wasn't just inadvertantly true?
Trump will be our presodent. He has no political experience or record,
Why do people keep saying this? He is the founder and executive of many businesses, a global real estate empire, and now a successful campaign for the preidency. When Barack Obama was elected, the only experience he had was community organizing and a few years as a junior senator. Oh, and the campaign.
Of the two, even today, who has more years experience running an organization?
If you think I voted for Trump because of this post, you're wrong. I voted for Dr. Jill Stein of the Green Party. Again.
Can we stop with all those irrelevant politics? Trump won, elections are over. When he starts doing something there may be topics for further discussion, but now its just a waste of time. While there may be some people that are still coping with the results, lets keep this stuff out of slashdo as its for tech stories not social studies.
Why the homophobic rant? What do you have against gay russians?
If you think I voted for Trump because of this post, you're wrong. I voted for Dr. Jill Stein of the Green Party. Again.
I have no idea what you are talking about, but rest assured, that there is not a whole lot of oil in Syria
Except for pipes?
Ezekiel 23:20
The NSF periodically puts out reports on science funding, which you can read yourself. Or, if you want the most relevant quote:
To put a little perspective on that, we spend $40 billion a year on startup companies.
There are a few scientists who will leave the US because they get poached by governments abroad. That has happened already and would continue, no matter what we do. Our pie is the biggest, but we have a lot of people to feed. There are also scientists who will have to leave because of visa issues. That has been happening (a lot) anyway too. We've had a labor surplus in science in the US for a long time.
The world will not end if other countries are allowed to be good at science. We will not implode if the government cuts science funding. As scientists, there are plenty of structural problems we can improve during a time of change.
We rely too much on cheap academic labor. We no longer have a working system for transitioning young, high level scientists from training to independence. The government only funds about 1/3 of scientific work, but with the slow and continuing death of real commercial research, the government funds far more than it's share of these young scientists, and this puts stress on the whole system. In general, we have become bad at commercializing scientific work. From the cost to develop new pharmaceuticals, to clean energy, to nanotechnology, we have not delivered in the fields that were supposed to have application. We are now extremely bad at understanding how our work can be applied to everyday life in a non-threatening way (think GMOs...). Our professional organizations organize these calls for increased funding, but we don't address any of our other structural issues. We have an opportunity here to work on some of these things.
>He has effectively already killed TPP. does he? I don't think he will. Big money likes TPP.
As an external observator it tell that if you continue to think as only a racist madman and understimate him he will win a second election. Also its disgusting your sense of moral superiority while you do things like beat Trump supporters. Who is acting like nazis?
If you think Canada can match USA science budget you are surely dreaming or smoking or both. Canada has always lagged behind in science funding. Even behind countries like Portugal when you scale the funding to the size of its economy. The size of the USA economy is much larger than canadian economy and the percentage dedicated to science funding is higher in USA than in Canada. Don't be fooled by some green patches in the pastures and conclude the pastures are greener in Canada.
Achille Talon
Hop!
"the U.S. could face a brain drain as some of its top science and tech talent moves to greener pastures."
Canada being where it is, at this time of the year, shouldn't it say: "moves to whiter pastures?"
All politicians lie. His were just more blatant. He didn't even pretend to tell the truth. Many people found his honesty about lying to be refreshing.
Wait so people found his blatant lying refreshingly truthful? What mental contortions did you have ot jump through to come up with that?
Yes, some of the things he said were true. For instance, he said that the polls were wrong.
In other words he said a bunch of stuff, some is true, some is not, you have no idea which is which except in hindsight, but that's OK because he's super honest? U wot mate?
If you reply, you get bonus points for dragging the other party into this even though it has nothing to do with what I wrote.
SJW n. One who posts facts.
I just find it odd that his supporters built a case to elect him based on his statements and then when he is elected acted as if they knew all along that he was lying.
He said he was anti-establishment: they said to elect on that basis. Turns out he is as establishment as they come.
What reasons remain to have him as president?
He underestimates the power of lies, of greed and of human nature itself, the dark ages prove that "the scientific method", can be put aside as easily as any other threat.
this is the age of incremental crappy technology that pushes everyone to spend more time at work and away from their families. that's probably a first for technology.
If you want to talk about technology advancement, look at refridgeration liberating women from full-time canning.
Look at cars growing cities. And roads.
Look at the post office making written communication cost pennies -- think of everything coming by mail, like bills.
Look at telephones allowing families to connect.
Look at beer, bringing drinkable non-toxic water far from fresh-water sources, allowing civilization to build cities in the first place.
Look at sewers and plumbing and running water.
Look at flight.
All of the above improves life with family, life with friends, and the building of cities. They make us safer, and sounder, and comfortable in our own homes. They save lives.
Supercomputers in our pockets do absolutely none of that. They merely give us information, most of which we don't actually use once we acquire it, and they provide entertainment in the most anti-social manner possible, and they push us to spend more time working for less wealth.
Try again.
People love to associate the economic successes of the 1990s with Clinton knowing full well that correlation is not causation . Meanwhile, the viral expansion of the use of PCs and the internet during that time totally changed the way business is conducted. Technology changes things regardless of who is in the White House...as long as government doesn't stand in its way e.g. the Telecommunications Act of 1996. The first iPhone came out during the Bush administration. Did he have anything to do with it? Nope. Did it change communication as we knew it? Yup.
Trump will be our presodent. He has no political experience or record,
When Barack Obama was elected, the only experience he had was community organizing and a few years as a junior senator.
Obama also was a State Senator from 1997-2004. He also taught constitutional law for 12 years. Years as a Senator is what is known as "political experience". Donald Trump has none.
The government is not a business. It has different goals and works in different ways. I don't know why people think it's a good idea to have a businessman run the country but here we are.
Enigma