Aye! When will humanity learn that tech cant help them with everything! Hhmmm I have thought of one scenario though.
While it is true that we rely heavily on technology, we humans are hardly weak both physically and mentally. We rely on technology to educate future generations to the fullest. To teach them right from wrong and to show them how the entire world works. We rely on technology to improve medicine and help find more effective cures and treatments to help improve the general health and quality of life for all of God's creatures. Technology may have its limits, but as long as we put our mental and physical strength into something positive and beneficial for everyone, there is no limit to what we humans can do. We control technology, not the other way around!
No, it's not technology. It's the society. From 2000-2012, I have yet to see such a useless generation. There is almost nothing new. All the arts are done, and nothing new or creative is even close to being seen. This is not because of technology.
I think the issue is that we have no skills related to agriculture. 99% of people in first world countries are now unskilled in that regard. If society were to collapse, most of the panic would be the result of the realization that the majority of us have no ability to survive in the wild or to grow natural food sources for ourselves. So yes, technology now controls us in the sense that without it, a vast quantity of our population woud likely starve or kill each other in the effort not to starve.
He's talking about how tasty we would be is cooked well. Yeah, you find out just how creative you are and who your real friends are when the power and/or the netz goes dark.
Every previous generation mocks the newer generation. Being weak physically and mentally has nothing to do with newer generations comming & going. it's all depends on the individual & what they do with their life.
We live in a world where we've got trailblazers who are practically tearing down the barriers that we would have deemed utterly impassable no more than a century ago. We have so much to discover and so much that we have discovered, and to say that the vehicle of technology by which we've done so has made us intellectually weak is somewhat shortsighted, I'd say. I don't think that the researchers at CERN who managed to prove the existence of the Higgs Boson are intellectually weak because of the technology they used to do so. I don't think that those at NASA who took part in the successful landing of the Curiosity rover are intellectually weak because of the technology they used. I don't even think the kids of today are any intellectually weaker than those of 30 years ago; it's simply that standards have changed, and now we have this easy scapegoat of technology to blame, as there were those who blamed Aristotle for corrupting the youth, or Dungeons and Dragons for suicide. There's never going to be one easy thing to blame, no matter if there are cell phones, Google Glasses, or whatever trendy method of communication there is. Now, physical weakness? I'm not going to blame technology alone either. I know several historians make the interesting argument that the expansion of the average American home into a collection of multiple bedrooms has allowed for the growth of individuality and a preference for solidarity though, so technology could play a similar role, for all I know.
What about you, AutobotJazz1? What do YOU think? Do you believe everything you read on wikipedia? Did these articles provide any proof or evidence you found compelling? What do you think about your generation and it's relationship to technology? Humans have relied on technology since the first hominid picked up a stick and figured out he could hit things harder with it. Hell, the use of technology to solve problems probably predates humanity itself. But since then, we've used more and more advanced technology to solve more and more complex problems. Does technology control us? I don't think so. Maybe there are some of us who have an unhealthy relationship with technology, but I don't think that describes us as a species. Especially when you think of the sheer number of people who don't have access to what we would consider "modern" technology, around the world. I'll assume you're intending to limit discussion Is humanity weaker than before? Our athletes shatter performance records on a regular basis. We're living much longer than we were 1000, or even 100 years ago. We've made ourselves basically immune to a number of diseases. Modern nutrition and access to food has basically wiped out many of the enfeebling effects of famine and starvation for the majority of us in the developed world. But at the same time, our lifestyle has changed in the last 60 years or so, and while we still eat like farmers (or worse, if you're an opponent of processed foods), we no longer work like farmers. Obesity and obesity related issues are increasingly common, even among the young. We don't get the same level of physical exercise we used to, or achieve the same level of fitness, on average, that other generations may have been able to claim. Is humanity weaker mentally than before? Our ability to develop new technologies continues at a breakneck pace, and we make new advancements on a seemingly daily basis. We have a nuclear powered robot lasering rocks on Mars, for example. Literacy is at the highest rates it's ever been at, globally, and the internet has put information, and an ability to connect with others and learn from them, at the feet of billions who have made fine use of it. More and more of us in the developed world achieve not only secondary education, but post-secondary, and even post-graduate education. But at the same time, some argue we have become intellectually lazy, and lack critical thinking skills. Some argue the media we choose to consume makes us shallow and ignorant about the world around us. Some argue that our young have no interest in learning or acquiring knowledge in the first place. But then, these same claims could be leveled against many older generations. To me at least, this is just another example of the current generation looking to the young and shaking their heads, lamenting for a halcyon age that never existed in the first place. It's not just a played-out stereotype on these boards, it's one that dates back in human history as far as the time of Socrates. Humanity has always been faced with problems, and we've always managed to rise up and meet them, leveraging technology to do so. Today's youth are no worse off in that respect than those in the past, though the details of the challenges may differ.
Yep, leave it to Aernaroth to make the point I was trying to with the eloquence and coherence cranked to 11.
Aernaroth basically just ended this thread. The current generation is by no means weaker physically, or mentally. Just because technology has evolved drastically in the last 10 years, doesn't mean that every human being in the world will turn into fat pigs. As Aernaroth said, athletes have shattered the sports industry in a good way of course, and they use technology all the time to record their heart-rate, time, etc, and their all physically fit and mentally stable because they need to be in order to succeed in games, and competitions. I do however belive that the major problem with technology is the many deaths that texting causes everyday... That's where we are the most vulnerable, we can't go a second without our Iphones, and Samsungs, and Tablets. I know that texting is going to bring a lot more death, and disaster every year unfortunately, and there is no law or ban that is going to stop us from looking down at that emulated screen for a few seconds, and then look up long enough to see ourselves crashing into another car and causing an accident and possibly someone's death. Do I belive that technology has made us weak? I personally say no to that question... Technology has allowed us to discover, and create things that people could only dream of 15 years ago. Just think what technology will be like a mere 8 years from now, and it will only become more advanced and there really is nothing we can do to stop that. I will say that technology is responsible for the deaths of many teenagers, and adults alike every single day. While being a young man myself, I can only watch the news and see yet another fatal car crash due to texting, and shake my head in sadness. While I think technology is great and will take us to places that we could only imagine years ago... It is a killer.
I agree with most of what you say, however, I personally feel like the newer generation lacks NEW ideas. Not in every case, but I do worry about the arts. In most instances, this generation is just copying what was done before it. It the art scene nothing is new. In the music scene, we are no closer to hearing any new style or type of music. Movies are just copies, remakes or sequels. All are poorly done. The only place that I saw a change was in video games, but I will argue that in the last 10 years we have not seen anything like we did 10-20 years ago. All I see is the same type of gameplay as 20 years ago. Just because people don't know what Doom was, doesn't mean that first party shooters aren't more of the same. I just wish this generation would focus back on the arts.
...I was gonna come here and post some massive wall of text rant about the entire concept of "humanity getting dumber and weaker" being absolute and total BS but it seems Aernaroth beat me too it. And more then likely far more eloquently then I ever could have. The whole notion of "it was better back in the day" in just about any regard is usually baseless nostalgia with almost no regard for the truth. It's not that people are dumber or weaker then ever now, it's that because of the way information works now, it's easier to find these dumb/weak people. Through the use of technology, any time someone does something even remotely dumb, *millions* of people around the ENTIRE world will hear about it within a matter of hours if not less. You really want to see what life was like before modern technology and how much "better" things were? Well there's plenty of third world nations and civilizations out there that still don't have any "modern" technology. It's all been done before. All of it. That said, there's still TONS of creatively new things out there in various new mediums that never existed just 30 years ago.
