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".

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.

Unknown 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.

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.

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

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.

I used to love playing my Megadrive and the other computer & video games when I was younger. Anyway, welcome Shane, nice to meet you.

It does sound like the answer to all my executive (dys)function nightmares. You could still get by doing the "old skool" side of those things for example, still go into a bank etc. My point in my original post was, about having a choice over whether to do these things or not and how, often, tech seems to prevail over common sense or adds another layer of unnecessary complication.

I like old-school gaming, could never play games really but now my eyes have adjusted to the new screens growing up it's possible to play Sega and Pac-Man now  who else is like thos. Also hey, I'm Shane I have Asd autism developmental dyspraxia dyslexia and ADH. I'm from dorset

I don’t think I could cope without my iPhone. For me it’s my connection to other people and the world, I use it to email people rather than phone, I do online banking to save me the hell of going into a bank and deal with small talk with the cashier, I pay for everything by Apple Pay which stops me continually misplacing my bank card or the awkwardness of me trying to count out cash, add it up and then invariably drop it. I do all my clothes shopping online to avoid me having to go into busy, loud, bright shops. I use it to listen to music to help me to go to sleep. I use it connect to others over FaceTime when my social meter is run out and I can’t deal with face to face but need to still have some kind of human connection. i use it to make lists of things I need to do and set reminders for things I must remember. I use it to googlemap everything before I get there so I know the layout, what to expect, where to park or to find menus online to pre plan what I’m going to eat somewhere. It stores tickets for me rather than having the dreaded search in my house of knowing I’ve put the physical ticket safe and cannot remember where.

I literally couldn’t cope without it! :) 

Unknown said:

I'm not sure what you mean either now!

The Matrix has you now!

I'm not sure what you mean either now!.......... Hang on I think I understand your original post a bit more now.

Unknown said:

I do find on here is sometimes an echo chamber as there are few non autistic people who are here on discussions.

That is true, but there is little to interest NTs on this site unless they are researching us or partners of a ND person I guess.

Unknown said:

It isn't for nostalgic reasons that I'm less willing to engage.

I'm not sure what you mean be engaging - is it in the discussion about technology or nostalga - so something else?

It isn't for nostalgic reasons that I'm less willing to engage. Don't ask me what it is....I would find that difficult to answer as I don't think it's just one thing.

I agree about big brother and we are doing it to ourselves. I do find on here is sometimes an echo chamber as there are few non autistic people who are here on discussions.