Re: High Technology of the Future

From: Samantha Atkins (samantha@objectent.com)
Date: Tue Dec 26 2000 - 22:36:36 MST


"Ross A. Finlayson" wrote:

> Do you watch television? How much television do you watch? Do you watch it with
> other people?
>

Maybe 1 sci-fi show a week unless I'm too sick to feel like touching the
computer. Then a few hours laid out surfing the satellite will seem
almost bearable.

> Compared to ten years ago, many more people use the Internet in some capacity.

Permanent feed. I'll be the first on the block to have an internet
implant.

>
> >
> > 2. Information-based Careers: People develop careers that are more
> > information-based and less labor-based. That is a major difference.
> >
>
> That is due to some economic factors, there will always be demand to support many
> labor-based or "blue collar" jobs. For example, the minimum wage is higher in
> Silicon Valley than South Dakota. Besides that, whoever cares to be a tradesman
> or craftsman has only less competition.

Huh? Many blue-collar jobs that I've seen are either being automated,
made much more technical or moved off-shore.

As the world becomes more information dense and information dependent it
is obvious that more people will have information-based or related
jobs.
>
> > 3. Education: Almost everybody has basic education today. That is
> > different than in previous centuries.
> >
>
> Yes that's true. They have an education more based upon written learning and
> abstract expression than those of previous generations, which might have been
> about farming or life at that time.

Actually, the compulsory state-provided education is resulting in
arguably more functional illiteracy and in precious few well educated
much less intellectually productive citizens. I have seen figures
claiming that something like 50% of college graduates never read a
complete book in the rest of their lives. Going into the high tech
future, this is a major disaster.

I have some really bright friends who spend most of their time playing
EverQuest except for the minimum to keep body and soul together and put
in a minimum of time at work. I don't understand such things. Of
course it is their right but it is as if they don't see what is coming
down the pike at all or don't want to be a part of determining what that
is despite having more talent than most any dozen really bright people
each. And these aren't wastoids. The vast majority of people in the US
know almost no science by the polls, less math, and believe an
incredible array of utterly preposterous things that they claim shape
their most fundamental values. Pretty damn scary.

>
> > 6. Communications: Not much can happen in the world without us
> > knowing about it instantly. No major wars can break out, no
> > assassinations can occur, no major disasters can occur without us
> > seeing it first-hand within minutes or hours of the event.
> > --
> > Harvey Newstrom <HarveyNewstrom.com>
>
> Yes. Does the news matter more than it does then?
>

It actually matters less. There is more news in bulk but far less real
analysis of it and what there is is seldom in terms of fundamental
principles. News is pretty strongly biased. At least I have lived long
enough to see more sides of several stories than ever made the news.
I've lived more than long enough to watch commentators basing their
"analysis" on what some other commentator believed or claimed without
bothering to engage their own brain at all except to filter words
through. There are tons more channels for the depressingly same memes
to propagate.

And of course we still miss a lot from places where the news sources are
rigourously controlled by the state. We see what can be seen from orbit
but the rest we are largely blind to.



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