Level of Technological Advancement - When is it a net negative?

[BuckyBadger]

Having grown up in the 80s I am old enough to have experienced life without the internet, smart phones (or even dumb cell phones), instant updates etc.

While there is no arguing how certain technological advancements have made our lives easier and less burdensome in many ways I often wonder if it truly makes life better.

The 80s or some time adjacent seems like a peak in terms of balancing living more comfortable lives because of technological advancement but not becoming such dependent, non-thinking, overly depressed people so fractured as a society in the way we are today.

There is some inflection point we passed a while back with technology. Now, a lot of people wish AI would go away, myself included.

 

Edited Friday at 06:02 PM by BuckyBadger

[red viking]

It's great overall when it works but the main problem I see is that the better it gets, the more dependent we get on it and therefore the more that can go wrong. 

[BuckyBadger]

That’s true and I agree. But what about when it works and it just makes us worse off? For example, constant updates on the phone whether it’s text/twitter etc are actually rewiring our brains and arguably leading to depression. And for what purpose? So we can see who liked a pic we posted.

Edited Friday at 06:05 PM by BuckyBadger

[red viking]

3 minutes ago, BuckyBadger said:

That’s true and I agree. But what about when it works and it just makes us worse off? For example, constant updates on the phone whether it’s text/twitter etc are actually rewiring our brains and arguably leading to depression. And for what purpose? So we can see who liked a pic we posted.

I agree. People need to be careful about their screen time. Not good for brain. 

[PortaJohn]

It's not long until ASI becomes the predominant intelligence.  We're on our curtain call

[jross]

Technology steals presence.

 

[Saylors_Tiny_Willie]

All social media is engineered to be addictive, just like cigarettes.

Brain poison.

[Husker_Du]

12 hours ago, red viking said:

I agree. People need to be careful about their screen time. Not good for brain. 

the jokes write themselves. 

[ionel]

19 hours ago, PortaJohn said:

It's not long until ASI becomes the predominant intelligence.  We're on our curtain call

Isn't it odd how we live in the new AI world but still dependent on the portajohn.   

[Saylors_Tiny_Willie]

On 3/7/2025 at 11:04 PM, Husker_Du said:

the jokes write themselves. 

Yes you do.

[Caveira]

On 3/7/2025 at 8:11 PM, Saylors_Tiny_Willie said:

All social media is engineered to be addictive, just like cigarettes.

Brain poison.

I suspect the engineering for cigarette and social media apps are slightly different.  

[Saylors_Tiny_Willie]

4 hours ago, Caveira said:

I suspect the engineering for cigarette and social media apps are slightly different.  

Slightly.

Not much.

Dopamine rewards for repeated correct responses.

[Caveira]

3 minutes ago, Saylors_Tiny_Willie said:

Slightly.

Not much.

Dopamine rewards for repeated correct responses.

Whatever dude.  

[Saylors_Tiny_Willie]

8 minutes ago, Caveira said:

Whatever dude.  

Spoken like a true scholar.

[Caveira]

2 minutes ago, Saylors_Tiny_Willie said:

Spoken like a true scholar.

One is tech.  One is a drug / plant invented a zillion years ago.  The “engineering” is totally the same. 

[Saylors_Tiny_Willie]

13 hours ago, Caveira said:

One is tech.  One is a drug / plant invented a zillion years ago.  The “engineering” is totally the same. 

Tell me again that you have not the faintest clue about how things work.

https://www.fda.gov/tobacco-products/products-ingredients-components/how-cigarette-engineered

https://truthinitiative.org/research-resources/harmful-effects-tobacco/how-big-tobacco-made-cigarettes-more-addictive

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/242598454_Tobacco_Additives_Cigarette_Engineering_and_Nicotine_Addiction
 

[Caveira]

23 minutes ago, Saylors_Tiny_Willie said:

Tell me again that you have not the faintest clue about how things work.

https://www.fda.gov/tobacco-products/products-ingredients-components/how-cigarette-engineered

https://truthinitiative.org/research-resources/harmful-effects-tobacco/how-big-tobacco-made-cigarettes-more-addictive

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/242598454_Tobacco_Additives_Cigarette_Engineering_and_Nicotine_Addiction
 

Cool beans boss.   Nicotine is addictive.  Who knew.  

[Saylors_Tiny_Willie]

1 minute ago, Caveira said:

Cool beans boss.   Nicotine is addictive.  Who knew.  

Way to miss the point.

Cigarettes are engineered to be more addictive than naturally occurring tabacco.

Social media is similarly engineered to be more addictive than just browsing the internet.

[Caveira]

36 minutes ago, Saylors_Tiny_Willie said:

Way to miss the point.

Cigarettes are engineered to be more addictive than naturally occurring tabacco.

Social media is similarly engineered to be more addictive than just browsing the internet.

Ok.  I said cool beans.  What is your point?

[Gene Mills Fan]

The greater the technology the less awareness to your immediate surroundings.

[Saylors_Tiny_Willie]

6 hours ago, Caveira said:

Ok.  I said cool beans.  What is your point?

You clearly missed it.

Both social media and cigarettes are engineered for dopamine maximization.