Thoughts on technology and human evolution.

I had a fab conversation with an 81yr old stranger about all this the other day.  It was fabulous.   She was fabulous. 

The long-and-the-short of it is that, I believe, we continue to brainlessly stumble forward into an abyss that we don't understand but seem to wholly underestimate the self evident harms/impacts on our fragile perceptions on our own REAL worlds around (and within) each of us in person.

We're loosing it here...and I'm deeply worried about it, about "us"...perhaps I find that word of "hyperindividualised" scary because it is, perhaps, the polar opposite of the  word "us."

Believe it or not....I prefer short words!

I can't remember the exact specificities of the conversation but we were talking (obvs) about social media

That is a scary word....I'm not sure how I can best visualise the concept and how I feel about it....but I do like the word.

You are right, and how we think affects how we behave.....my friend once used the term "hyperindividualised".

I suppose it is useful if one has mobility or memory problems. I keep a notepad on the kitchen table at all times.

There is a lot of good will on our part as staff but i have got around the mentioned problem...it seems others havent questioned it. I agree with the rest of your comments too.

out_of_step said:

if I am understanding you rightly, has completely changed how people behave.

No.....it's worse than that.....I believe it is changing how people THINK about everything....not least their own sense of worth or place in this world.  It is scary.

She does turn the lights and radio on and off without having to get out of the chair. And she will add things to my shopping list on my mobile phone. She has her uses.

Unless there is something very specific in your contract, I doubt your employer can legally require you to download an app on your personal phone ... If your employer wants you to use a mobile device for work, they should supply one. [ Disclaimer: This is not legal advice - If it is an issue, I suggest you contact your union or take qualified advice.]

What annoys me is that one cannot even log into a banking website or make a credit card payment online without having to have a "verification" message sent to a mobile.  My view is that it is what it says, (a) mobile, and (b) a phone. A device I use to make phone calls when I am not at home.  It is useful to be able to read my email and access my diary and shopping list on the go, and Google Maps and the bus timetable are helpful. But I resent the expectation that one has a device permanently about one's person to suit somebody else's agenda.

My partner once got an advert on his phone for something quite random but very specific he had been discussing with someone else. I don't know how any algorithms from previous searches and browsing could've pinpointed this.

Mine was a gift, unwanted gift passed to me but it had to be sold after that. I prefer CDs. A lot of people use their phones for music listening as well. That's never appealed to me. Phones sound dreadful playing music, goes right through me!

I've said before it creates solutions to problems that don't exist.

On a more personal level, I know as things get upgraded I will have to move with the times. Even simple things like USB connectors are different to a few years ago. The "image based communication" if I am understanding you rightly, has completely changed how people behave.

And it is used to manipulate us

I remember life before the internet, so do have a bit of a bench mark. I can't imagine what it's like not knowing any different. 

Why on earth anyone would have an Alexa is beyond me. I know a lot of people who have them. 

Another thing is how some technology is listening in. I had an Alexa a few years ago, I was talking about handbags to buy and then suddenly on my Amazon I was getting loads of adverts for handbags.

That terrifies me! I don't like the idea of something or someone eavesdropping on me. I got rid of the Alexa after that and wouldn't have anything like it again.

I like some parts of technology. It's impressive but it can make people lazy, like my brother uses his phone to start his car and let it defrost itself before he gets in. Impressive but lazy. Lol!

But other parts I like is I've got a video doorbell so I don't have to answer the door and be seen. That's not a lazy thing on my part, it's good for my anxiety and that's why I have it. Phones I find annoying and try to use on a not so regular basis lol.

Technology is more and more advanced all the time. For many, myself included we've grown up with this technology. Most embrace the whole lot. I don't. I use what helps me and that's it.

Peter said:

the concentration of data in the hands of a few people is a far greater threat than technology infiltrating a society in and of itself if there were 15 different popular smartphone manufacturers with different operating systems and more or less open markets for anyone including open source developers to make software for that hardware it wouldn’t be nearly such a threat.

Absolutely......I don't understand why everybody isn't freaking out about this!

My concern is that we are becoming technologically inbred. Too much of our technology runs on the same system if it was a fatal flaw there wouldn’t necessarily be another code Base or hardware format fall back on.

Too much of a technology is controlled by a handful of companies that can dictate Poor conditions of service or otherwise change the terms as they wish. Equally that gives governments more control to dictate the same features in multiple technology features could someday be used to infringe on peoples privacy or set up totalitarian systems of control.

Homogenisation of technology and the concentration of data in the hands of a few people is a far greater threat than technology infiltrating a society in and of itself if there were 15 different popular smartphone manufacturers with different operating systems and more or less open markets for anyone including open source developers to make software for that hardware it wouldn’t be nearly such a threat.

Just like having a diverse gene pool makes the species more robust having lots of different systems with lots of different hardware and software would make our technology more robust to Day zero flaws, government exploitation, anti-competitive and privacy infringing practices. Our technology is inbred it practically has a Habsburg jaw.

Technological advances are being made at a pace that outstrips our human evolutionary capacity to wield that technology wisely.

This is the essence of our species current woes, I believe.

Rather than enjoying and exploring and getting to grips with a new piece of tech innovation ..... "we" immediately throw it away and move on to the "next" tech innovation.

Having an "image" based method of interpersonal communication, that is driven by "advertising greed" at it's core, has been a massive mid-step in our evolutionary journey, I believe.