It is thus highly likely that the first implicit assumption of the dystopian perspective is correct: Things are indeed different today, and the difference is fundamental and qualitative, not simply one of degree. Emerging technologies are making everything from individual molecules, to the human, to the planet itself, design spaces. Moreover, it is also likely that technological evolution, and all the concomitant changes in coupled institutional, social, economic, and cultural systems, will be more challenging and complex than anything humans have yet experienced.
This is a point I have been trying to make to those who think the current technological changes "are just like what we experienced in the past" and that the changes we are going through now are not unlike the change from Iron weapons to Carbon Steel or the change from Whale Blubber Oil Lamps to Electric lights.
What we are experiencing now is unprecedented. If anyone in human history experienced anything similar(note the results) it would be what happened to the New World civilizations and peoples, the Native Americans, when the Europeans showed up with Guns, Germs and Steel.
The rich irony here is that we ourselves, and our rapidly advancing tech, are "The Europeans".
We are the "Guns, Germs and Steel".
Why are computer games, with their over the top gratuitous gore, etc; "OK" by modern American cultural standards, but table-top RPG's are "weird"?
I've encountered this attitude many times, and I play video games as well as table-top RPGs!
table top RPG gamers are always viewed through a much different lens than the average XBOX or PS player.
Good GMs will easily bypass "Absolutist Morality", will create interesting NPC backstories and motivations, and generally run a game that encourages thoughtful pcs instead of just another hack and slash dungeon crawl.
religious-hardliner nut-jobs from the Christian conservative camp that will flip shit at the thought of any attack on their Jeebus or wacko authoritarian cultural-Marxist leftists who would never want to appear to say anything bad about Islam.
Speaking for myself, I use Linux distros at home for these reasons:
1. They're not Microsoft, Apple or Google.
2. There is less "telemetry" from my Linux boxes to OS megacorps(see #1)
3. Linux desktops have become reasonably reliable and stable, and yes, I've been using Unix/Linux since late 90s.
4. I enjoy trying out different distros/software, configuring the software, seeing the different ways things work in different distros, etc
5. Linux is fun!
...being Middle Class, it will be even harder for their urban populations to even want to have children, period.
Chinas economy and society exploded in a mass rush to bring its populations out of an agrarian based society into the 21st century in a single generation. They have come close to achieving that, however, those millions(billions?) now experiencing their "first taste of the First World", the Chinese middle class, with their new found luxury goods, cars, etc; will start to behave more like those in other First World countries like Japan, the US and Europe.
Sticks and stones bitches... really everyone just needs to get over themselves... freedom isn't free.. tolerance of assholes is required for free societies to be free. If you can't stomach freedom then please get the fuck out of my country and don't let lady liberty bitch slap you on your ride out. (kidding you can stay but fuck you precious snowflake triggering fucks all of you get a clue, get a job and take a shower)
If you look at how American society is going, you see a society that is embracing groupthink, and lessening respect for the individual.
I have seen in the last ten years or so(since the advent of "social media"...) a change in American culture that encourages a sort of "agree or die" mentality. Gone are the days of everyone having their own opinion.
We are heading in the direction of the political movements of the early twentieth century, only now we have an immensely more powerful way to control opionion, control behavior and in the not too very distant future, control thought itself.
The US is just waiting for them to finish. Then they will bust out their new weather control weapon and send a huge Typhoon to wash away their atolls...
Where "car culture" is in full effect.
Where vast acreage is set aside for parking, and great 10 lane freeways bustle and swell with the endless traffic you so desire.
A place where getting around with mass transit or a bicycle is possible, but very difficult and requires spending an extra two-three hours each day for your commute and the patience of a saint.
This is a place where it is routine to see massive lifted diesel trucks belching dark clouds of exhaust into the unassuming open window of a Prius owner eating a kale and hummus wrap.
A place where lowered Monte Carlos cruise slowly next to you with sub woofers so loud your fillings come out.
Please come to America! Land of the car, the truck, the traffic jam, and Road Rage.
You will be welcomed with open arms by the millions stuck in traffic, arguing over parking, raging after getting cut off on the onramp,
Many years ago(previous millenium) I lived and worked on the Peninsula, not too far from PA.
It was a wonderland of opulence, beauty, charm, character, and the weather could not be beat.
During my work routine I had to occasionally make a deliveries to East Palo Alto, which was, at the time, a very different place from PA and the rest of the Peninsula. East Palo Alto was a low income "working class" neighborhood/town that was 180 degress different than PA.
Crossing over into EPA, aka "Hubbaville"(a reference locals made to people who would go to EPA to buy crack cocaine) was an abrupt change. The two communities were so close to each other physically, yet so far apart in many other ways. It really was sad to see, with all the obvious cultural/social/economic stereotypes one would expect to see playing out right before my eyes.
Are you seriously telling me people would buy this and connect it to their wifi and then "manage" it via an app on their phone.
That has to be the epitome of laziness...
Here is the best part:
Invite friends with the new social features. Send messages and invites through the Smarter app via Twitter, Facebook and more. Get together with friends and family and have a tea together. Make drink requests or ask a friend how they would like their tea or coffee before you forget to add the sugar.
Years ago(10+) when I was running my site from home I would check the logs daily and see similar to what you describe.
Sure, there were loads of crap ssh attacks from all over the world, but the vast majority were from Chinese and Eastern European ip block ranges.
I blocked whole ranges of ip's(Chinese and Eastern European).
I think the moral of the story, which I can't believe still isn't the reality we live in, is that everything will have only whitelists.
However, have fun whitelisting Office 365
You must understand that for many Americans, both in the past and now in our current time, that phrase was a touchstone of truth, to be honored. Just because it was spoken over two hundred years ago doesn't take away from its importance to American culture and history.
If you're not American I can understand your confusion.
If you are American, perhaps you need to read up on American history and politics, and lessen your ignorance.
Rest assured, unemployment will continue to rise in the future. There is no going back.
Computers, Software and Robotics will increase "productivity" to the point to where less and less people, be they in the US or anywhere else, will be left without a job or an income.
You can guarantee "think tanks" are thinking about this right now.
How will First World society function when there is 20% unemployment? 50%?
Especially in a Social Darwinist society like the US?
Yea, it is interesting the debate that pops up on/. from time to time about using cash vs debit or credit cards.
There is a view, mainly from Canadians and Europeans(as I have noticed) that using cash is akin to "living in a cave" and that no respectable person would be caught dead with cash. A view that modern, chipped credit cards are the only way to go, etc;
From all the things I've read in the last few years, it makes much more sense to use cash for most purchases.
As the economy become more tied to digital, it becomes more fragile, less robust, less defensible against criminal activity, etc, etc...
Slashdot Mirror
It is thus highly likely that the first implicit assumption of the dystopian perspective is correct: Things are indeed different today, and the difference is fundamental and qualitative, not simply one of degree. Emerging technologies are making everything from individual molecules, to the human, to the planet itself, design spaces. Moreover, it is also likely that technological evolution, and all the concomitant changes in coupled institutional, social, economic, and cultural systems, will be more challenging and complex than anything humans have yet experienced.
This is a point I have been trying to make to those who think the current technological changes "are just like what we experienced in the past" and that the changes we are going through now are not unlike the change from Iron weapons to Carbon Steel or the change from Whale Blubber Oil Lamps to Electric lights.
What we are experiencing now is unprecedented. If anyone in human history experienced anything similar(note the results) it would be what happened to the New World civilizations and peoples, the Native Americans, when the Europeans showed up with Guns, Germs and Steel.
The rich irony here is that we ourselves, and our rapidly advancing tech, are "The Europeans".
We are the "Guns, Germs and Steel".
This is something I've wondered about for years.
Why are computer games, with their over the top gratuitous gore, etc; "OK" by modern American cultural standards, but table-top RPG's are "weird"?
I've encountered this attitude many times, and I play video games as well as table-top RPGs!
table top RPG gamers are always viewed through a much different lens than the average XBOX or PS player.
Good GMs will easily bypass "Absolutist Morality", will create interesting NPC backstories and motivations, and generally run a game that encourages thoughtful pcs instead of just another hack and slash dungeon crawl.
Unless of course that is all you're after...
religious-hardliner nut-jobs from the Christian conservative camp that will flip shit at the thought of any attack on their Jeebus or wacko authoritarian cultural-Marxist leftists who would never want to appear to say anything bad about Islam.
Couldn't have said it better.
Bravo!
Sounds to me like you were walking across a thick shag carpet in socks, then opened the case and started tinkering...
Right
I don't get all these late-to-the-party types who think I'm going to sign up for their service just to watch one show...
US Army Tests Swarms of Drones In Major Exercise
"If I was you Major, I'd run..."
SXSW is now about Floral Design, Crafting and Power Walking.
Didn't you get the memo?
SXSW has split into 3 parts: Music, Film, and Interactive. This is SXSW Interactive. SXSW Music doesn't even start until SXSW is over.
There's also 7 different exhibitions:
Oh, right, to go along with:
SXSW Floral Design
SXSW Crafting
and my favorite:
SXSW Power Walking
Fucking Slayer.
Watch it or we'll banish you to MySpace.
SXSW used to be about puking your guts out at 9am after an all nighter, then killing it at shows later that night.
Panels about online harrasment?!?
That is on par with assigning an ip to your bidet, logging in to FB through it, then posting updates while using it.
Speaking for myself, I use Linux distros at home for these reasons:
1. They're not Microsoft, Apple or Google.
2. There is less "telemetry" from my Linux boxes to OS megacorps(see #1)
3. Linux desktops have become reasonably reliable and stable, and yes, I've been using Unix/Linux since late 90s.
4. I enjoy trying out different distros/software, configuring the software, seeing the different ways things work in different distros, etc
5. Linux is fun!
...being Middle Class, it will be even harder for their urban populations to even want to have children, period.
Chinas economy and society exploded in a mass rush to bring its populations out of an agrarian based society into the 21st century in a single generation. They have come close to achieving that, however, those millions(billions?) now experiencing their "first taste of the First World", the Chinese middle class, with their new found luxury goods, cars, etc; will start to behave more like those in other First World countries like Japan, the US and Europe.
Sticks and stones bitches... really everyone just needs to get over themselves... freedom isn't free.. tolerance of assholes is required for free societies to be free. If you can't stomach freedom then please get the fuck out of my country and don't let lady liberty bitch slap you on your ride out. (kidding you can stay but fuck you precious snowflake triggering fucks all of you get a clue, get a job and take a shower)
Buy this man a drink.
If you look at how American society is going, you see a society that is embracing groupthink, and lessening respect for the individual.
I have seen in the last ten years or so(since the advent of "social media"...) a change in American culture that encourages a sort of "agree or die" mentality. Gone are the days of everyone having their own opinion.
We are heading in the direction of the political movements of the early twentieth century, only now we have an immensely more powerful way to control opionion, control behavior and in the not too very distant future, control thought itself.
This is the future you wanted, right?
The US is just waiting for them to finish. Then they will bust out their new weather control weapon and send a huge Typhoon to wash away their atolls...
I am inviting you to move to a place where car owners are more than welcome.
Where "car culture" is in full effect.
Where vast acreage is set aside for parking, and great 10 lane freeways bustle and swell with the endless traffic you so desire.
A place where getting around with mass transit or a bicycle is possible, but very difficult and requires spending an extra two-three hours each day for your commute and the patience of a saint.
This is a place where it is routine to see massive lifted diesel trucks belching dark clouds of exhaust into the unassuming open window of a Prius owner eating a kale and hummus wrap.
A place where lowered Monte Carlos cruise slowly next to you with sub woofers so loud your fillings come out.
Please come to America! Land of the car, the truck, the traffic jam, and Road Rage.
You will be welcomed with open arms by the millions stuck in traffic, arguing over parking, raging after getting cut off on the onramp,
Many years ago(previous millenium) I lived and worked on the Peninsula, not too far from PA.
It was a wonderland of opulence, beauty, charm, character, and the weather could not be beat.
During my work routine I had to occasionally make a deliveries to East Palo Alto, which was, at the time, a very different place from PA and the rest of the Peninsula. East Palo Alto was a low income "working class" neighborhood/town that was 180 degress different than PA.
Crossing over into EPA, aka "Hubbaville"(a reference locals made to people who would go to EPA to buy crack cocaine) was an abrupt change. The two communities were so close to each other physically, yet so far apart in many other ways. It really was sad to see, with all the obvious cultural/social/economic stereotypes one would expect to see playing out right before my eyes.
Only X'ers and Boomers are going to get that reference...
Good one though.
Are you seriously telling me people would buy this and connect it to their wifi and then "manage" it via an app on their phone.
That has to be the epitome of laziness...
Here is the best part:
Invite friends with the new social features. Send messages and invites through the Smarter app via Twitter, Facebook and more. Get together with friends and family and have a tea together. Make drink requests or ask a friend how they would like their tea or coffee before you forget to add the sugar.
Years ago(10+) when I was running my site from home I would check the logs daily and see similar to what you describe.
Sure, there were loads of crap ssh attacks from all over the world, but the vast majority were from Chinese and Eastern European ip block ranges.
I blocked whole ranges of ip's(Chinese and Eastern European).
I think the moral of the story, which I can't believe still isn't the reality we live in, is that everything will have only whitelists.
However, have fun whitelisting Office 365
You must understand that for many Americans, both in the past and now in our current time, that phrase was a touchstone of truth, to be honored. Just because it was spoken over two hundred years ago doesn't take away from its importance to American culture and history.
If you're not American I can understand your confusion.
If you are American, perhaps you need to read up on American history and politics, and lessen your ignorance.
Rest assured, unemployment will continue to rise in the future. There is no going back.
Computers, Software and Robotics will increase "productivity" to the point to where less and less people, be they in the US or anywhere else, will be left without a job or an income.
You can guarantee "think tanks" are thinking about this right now.
How will First World society function when there is 20% unemployment? 50%?
Especially in a Social Darwinist society like the US?
Answer:
It Won't
Yea, it is interesting the debate that pops up on /. from time to time about using cash vs debit or credit cards.
There is a view, mainly from Canadians and Europeans(as I have noticed) that using cash is akin to "living in a cave" and that no respectable person would be caught dead with cash. A view that modern, chipped credit cards are the only way to go, etc;
From all the things I've read in the last few years, it makes much more sense to use cash for most purchases.
As the economy become more tied to digital, it becomes more fragile, less robust, less defensible against criminal activity, etc, etc...