reply to post by OwenGP185
My main concern is that as we are right now, we are capable of making very impressive machines, components, chips and computers, and are getting
better at it every day. Our minds are expanding further now, than the hippies of the sixties THOUGHT they were, while they were destroying thier
synaptic interface capabilities with LSD and other dangerous chemicals.
But with all our modern comforts, as provided for by our increasing grasp of technology, our capacity for hardihood, for manning up and getting on
with it diminish. In days gone by , people would think nothing of walking six or seven miles in the snow here in the UK. Now, no one can get to work
if more than two inches come down, unless they have a four by four, or a set of ice chains on thier tyres, which most dont, unless they live up a
mountain.
People can be chased inside by a mere rainfall for goodness sake, and yet years ago, you had to keep going , no matter what. Stiff upper lip used to
conquer all ills, but now people look at you like you are some sort of insane person for going out in the rain, and carrying on about your business in
the midst of gale force winds, or snow fall.
As our technology increases in its potency , those who benifit most from it become weak, spineless. They let themselves order online , rather than
manning up, going out doors, and handing over some cold hard currency to a human being in a store. They phone for a pizza rather than getting up off
thier lazy behinds and cooking for themselves. They get fat, and when they do THEY GO TO THE GYM!! They actually pay someone else, to fix thier
problems for them, usually using a computer assisted work out program with a spread sheet showing the results after a month! Are you for real? GET THE
HELL OUT AND CUT SOME LOGS! Sweep your garden clear of leaves, make a damned patio with your bare hands and will power!!! THAT is a legitimate way to
go about things.
Reliance on any one aspect of existance, to carry one through , is a foolish way to pass a life time. Empires have fallen based on just this sort of
focused concentration. I realise that technology is responsible for some incredible breakthroughs in some very important fields, including medicine
and energy production. However, mankind must learn to use his tools in moderation.
Sometimes it is better for a person to use a handsaw than an electric or petrol powered one, and not just because of the finish, but because it gets
the blood flowing. Using a computer aided cutting tool is very impressive, and the results unquestionably superior, assuming a certain level of
competance in the person programming the device. But hand crafting metal work is far more physically exhausting, and therefore more physically
rewarding, than using a machine to make a machine!
Driving to work may be faster, but walking is BETTER. You have time to think, time to consider, to contemplate, to meditate on the world around you,
and the world inside you, and catch the little things in life, that are nothing but a blur in the window of a car or bus. Plus it is great excersize,
and unlike the brakes on those dodgy Prius from a couple of years ago, that failed to activate when a car was approaching a junction, you choose when
you stop,and nothing can argue with you. Not unless the microchip has entered your shoes also!
I love stuff like Star Trek, the clean, surgical, futuristic lines of the ships, the amazing interconnectivity of all tech on board, the scope of the
tech candy on display... but I also know that if such a future awaits mankind, it does not lay at the end of a path paved with wobbling lard butted
things, who have sacrificed all thier hunter gatherer skill and instinct at the alter of technology to recieve the terror gift of the following prayer
to the tech god:
"Press button one for nutrient paste, press button two for waste removal, press button three for entertainment, press button four for stimulants,
press button five for....."
edit on 16-12-2011 by TrueBrit because: spelling
