Modern technology, I suspect, far from being neutral in its effects, has more than one underlying purpose of built-in tendency: besides reducing the need for physical effort (a kind of material surrender,) it helps us avoid the need for cooperation of social flexibility (a kind of social or metaphysical surrender)... Cars, telephones, message machines, caller ID, and e-mail grant us unprecedented powers to associate with whom we want, when we want, to the degree we want, under the terms we want, finessing and filtering out those we don't want--and thin out the possibilities of social growth accordingly.
Perhaps that seems rather random to you. It's from this book, Better Off, by Eric Brende, about the problems with technology and how people can live without it. It's a really good book.
1 comment:
So true.
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