Is society to reliant on technology?

[localzuk]

So, another 'discussion' occurred this morning where some think we are too reliant on technology and some (myself included) thinking we're not, as it makes our lives easier and has extended life spans etc...

 

So, I thought I'd do a bit of a poll and see.

[LiamH]

Technology is the reason society exists!

[twin--turbo]

I tried googling the answer but could not find out so I am stumped, Sorry.

 

Rob

[LosOjos]

I'm on the fence somewhat... don't get me wrong, I love where technology is going, I love what we've achieved so far and I'd hate to be without it. But the question was are we too reliant on it, and to some degree I think we are. I say this because many places simply have no contingency plan for when technology doesn't work - they simply come to a halt. I've been in shops for instance where the tills have stopped working. Rather than keep taking cash and accounting for it manually, they've shut the shop!

 

TL;DR - we probably do rely on it too much, because we don't have good contingencies in place.

 

[of course I am talking about the royal 'we']

[LiamH]

I'm on the fence somewhat... don't get me wrong, I love where technology is going, I love what we've achieved so far and I'd hate to be without it. But the question was are we too reliant on it, and to some degree I think we are. I say this because many places simply have no contingency plan for when technology doesn't work - they simply come to a halt. I've been in shops for instance where the tills have stopped working. Rather than keep taking cash and accounting for it manually, they've shut the shop!

 

TL;DR - we probably do rely on it too much, because we don't have good contingencies in place.

 

[of course I am talking about the royal 'we']

 

 

Depends how you define technology, a manual till is still technology, as is the pen and paper and even the use of fire.

 

If you mean electronic technology then i see your point.

[Quackers]

Yes, because even a Bic Biro is Technology or running water to our home. But i like having technology in my life.

[LosOjos]

If you mean electronic technology then i see your point.

 

I assumed that's what the OP is getting at... if I'm wrong then I'm 100% reliant on technology - I've never gone out naked and killed, cooked and eaten my lunch with my bare hands!

Edited January 18, 2013 by LosOjos
I don't have "bear" hands...

[Guest salan]

I think that a lot of people are too relient on technology in the sense that they forget how to do things without it.

An example (and this is NOT meant as teacher bashing), the number of times the Internet link (via county) goes down and a teacher moans saying that they can't tech. Yes it probably screwed up their lesson plans, but what happened to thinking on your feet?I would say the same about 'joe public'. The power goes off and they panic. I just make a brew (camping stoves) and listen to the radio (battery/solar). At work there are plenty of jobs I can do if the power went.

So in that respect I think yes we are too relient on technology.

Alan

[localzuk]

I mean 'modern technology', so not just electronic stuff, but not as extreme as including a lock and key.

 

My argument is that technology is what has made the society we live in what it is. Life expectancies are longer than ever, the vast majority of people can feed themselves etc...

 

We can get information about anything pretty much instantly.

 

Some of the arguments I've had against it are that people are always in communication with their work so don't get a proper home/work life (ie. getting work emails on their phones etc...) but I just classify that sort of thing as being 'idiots not turning their phones off'.

 

Contingency is another human issue, not a problem with technology. Planning is a key part of any system.

 

If we have a power cut for 2 days, the vast majority of people can still figure out how to get fed - there is cold food, or go to someone who has a gas cooker etc... So we have our own individual contingency plans, so businesses should too.

[X-13]

The power goes off and they panic.

 

I admit, I've done that.

 

Not panic... just forget.

 

 

Power goes off > sitting about reading > Oh! I'm going to play some $game > buffering > I'm an idiot.

[mthomas08]

This came up for us yesterday, are we relying too much on technology in regards to teaching. - I voted Yes. And I think everyone in the meeting would also agree, sadly though people want technology. As a result teachers have to use it at their benefit or what? Simply allow their school to sit still while others have it? If its a tool that actually benefits education I would say its well worth it.

 

I am not a fan of whiteboards/projectors but our new management is hell bent on having them in every classroom and must be used, especially in the core subjects. I still question if it actually benefits education but at the end of the day they are teachers and know better?

[Gatt]

I question the validity of a poll that asks whether society is reliant on Technology, when said poll is being asked on an online forum..

[unixman_again]

Too many people are obsessed with technology. How many of you walk along the road, not looking where you are going, intently staring at your mobile phone? How many grab it, the moment it rings? In my last school, I was allowed to confiscate phones until the end of the day, and I took great pleasure in doing so. Judging by the tears, you'd have thought I had cut off an arm. I used to have a mobile, but I got better about 5 years ago and you know, I've never missed it. Sure friends complain that they can't instantly reach me, but they can always call the perfectly good phone that it attached to my lounge room wall and if I'm not there, leave a message.

[elsiegee40]

Is society to reliant on technology?

 

It's TOO reliant on spell-checkers

[localzuk]

It's TOO reliant on spell-checkers

 

Lol, my brain slips up occasionally. I shall flog myself to remedy the situation.

[sonofsanta]

I'm on the fence somewhat... don't get me wrong, I love where technology is going, I love what we've achieved so far and I'd hate to be without it. But the question was are we too reliant on it, and to some degree I think we are. I say this because many places simply have no contingency plan for when technology doesn't work - they simply come to a halt. I've been in shops for instance where the tills have stopped working. Rather than keep taking cash and accounting for it manually, they've shut the shop!

 

TL;DR - we probably do rely on it too much, because we don't have good contingencies in place.

 

[of course I am talking about the royal 'we']

 

+1 to that; technology is of course a wonderful thing, but could our society run for any reasonable length of time without it? If there was a decent power outage for even a week, the trains couldn't run, pumps couldn't dispense petrol, supermarkets wouldn't be able to sell items... not to mention people would panic because they'd be so unused to not having instant information on what was going on from Twitter, News 24 etc.

 

Not that I'd change it for the world. Technology is absolutely our advantage. In Year 7 RE I remember the teacher trying to convince us that tigers were superior because in a one-on-one match, its natural advantages would allow it to tear us apart. Even then I thought that was absurdly artificial, because where the tiger has its teeth and claws, we have technology; not just guns or cattle prods, but bows, spears, axes, the ability & foresight to pick up a rock and lamp it round the skull with it. It's our evolutionary advantage, and it's winning. It's why I firmly believe that we're but a mere stepping stone on the path to what will be the true humans: the species that really goes out into the universe, who will be humans completely intertwined with (and indistinguishable from) our technology, utterly connected to each other and riddled with our own inventions improving us and empowering us.

 

Er, so, yeah. Too much, but only cos it's all on foundations of sand than because it's a bad thing in itself. You can't ever go backwards, after all, as Pandora's Box tells us.

[X-13]

who will be humans completely intertwined with (and indistinguishable from) our technology, utterly connected to each other and riddled with our own inventions improving us and empowering us.

 

So... we're going to become the Borg?

[Gatt]

So... we're going to become the Borg?

 

Resistance Is Futile..

[localzuk]

Resistance Is Futile..

 

Indeed it is... @Little-Miss

[sonofsanta]

So... we're going to become the Borg?

 

Yup. Or, Mass Effect 3 spoilers: Like the good (green) symbiosis ending, albeit with less handwaving and "look! relays are magical"

[X-13]

Resistance Is Futile..

 

Resistance is useless.

 

http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20100214204421/aliens/images/7/7e/40905738_vogon203.jpg

[Theblacksheep]

It's why I firmly believe that we're but a mere stepping stone on the path to what will be the true humans: the species that really goes out into the universe, who will be humans completely intertwined with (and indistinguishable from) our technology, utterly connected to each other and riddled with our own inventions improving us and empowering us.

 

Sounds hideous.

[localzuk]

Sounds hideous.

 

Sounds great to me. Roll on the singularity I say!!