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Naveen Meena

Co-Founder, ThoughtLabs

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Development or Destruction, where are we heading?

In this blind race of development, are we not realizing that we are not developing but moving ahead towards destruction. As with this so called development we are facing serious problems like global warming, ozone layer problem, change in weather cycle and a lot more. In modern times only because of the indicators of our so called development, mankind is living a restless & complex life in a lot of fears, where he developed these tools for secure, peaceful & luxurious life.

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Topics: environment future technology
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    David Hamilton 50+

    • +6
    Mar 13 2012: We, as a species... Are headed... Wherever we want to go. If we want SUV's, coal power, 60 hour work weeks, and droughts... We can have them. If we want solar concentrators, electric motorcycles, warehouse farms, and a healthy planet on which to raise our children... We can have that as well. It's all up to 7 billion individuals to choose.
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      Verble Gherulous 20+

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      Mar 13 2012: And therein lies the problem: most four person families can't decide on which movie to watch. What kind of odds, then, do you want to put on 7bn people agreeing on how to build a world?
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      Lisi Hoff

      • +3
      Mar 15 2012: so true David. But first those 6.999 billion people will need to wake up :) As long as we live in the illusion that "stuff" can make us happy, we won't be.
      Change is inevitable, maybe resisting less (read: stuck in the box thinking) and participating more will make those changes seem more palatable.
      The real question for me: What IS progress? I do not think we are progressing at all. We are losing what little humanity we had. Gadgets, as much as I love those darn things :), and technology has done absolutely nothing to promote human "values" such as empathy, compassion, understanding, tolerance.and acceptance.
      Our responses to technology has allowed a few countries to seemingly have improved their living standards. No outhouses :_P But NOT their quality of life.
      And we all have to make our choices.

      • Brandon Undheim

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        Mar 16 2012: As we have progressed through the last 75 years technology has made the human lazy (my opinion), especially my generation. I find that children do not have the drive to work hard at something and really make a change. Their too concerned with how many zombies they can kill in a video game.

        • Camille Van Pembroke

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          Mar 23 2012: In defense of the people who you say are ' too concerned with how many zombies they can kill in a video game', there are many people who spend most of there time and thought in making ends meet with minimum wages jobs, and who also support other friends/ family, and don't have the time or energy to make changes like this. Life can be very hard, and some people are just so caught up in the stress of making ends meet. This would not be the first thing on their mind, and if their destressing/relaxation consists of sitting back and playing a video game then so be it.

      • Edward Bolton

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        Mar 22 2012: A strong argument could be made that technology does not enhance human life, it only changes certain dynamics of behavior. Does it enhance collaboration and human interaction, I think not. Part of being a social being is direct human contact and association, not simulation through technology. More direct interaction creates a better society and increases our chances of survival and cooperation. Technology limits feelings and emotion and the impact of direct contact, it turns us into data and numbers instead of living,feeling, biological entities. Technology desensitizes human feelings in many ways or leads to misunderstandings and miscommunication. I cannot read someone's feelings through a text message very well. I could probably get a better job if I could get more interviews instead of being just a resume scanned by software looking for key terms that cannot and will not ever be able to quantify my value and character .

        • Camille Van Pembroke

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          Mar 23 2012: I agree that technology 'desenditizes human feelings' and makes things less personal, as I prefer to actually 'hang out' rather than text, etc., and find it incredibly annoying that in the company of other people, 50% of the time they are texting, etc. However, I would also like to argue that this technology does enhance collaboration and interaction. I think that by using these other means of communication, it allows for more communicaition within the same amount of time, which is more productive, more organized communicaition, which also saves on time and keeps like ideas together, and reaches out on a broader spectrum of people and ideas. Also, in some instances emotions can be communicated through technology as it is not able to be elsewhere (i.e. my 'friend' can be very shy and communicates alot of what he feels through internet messaging, which he would not be able to do in person. So it gives some people an edge they may never have had)

    • Brandon Undheim

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      Mar 16 2012: Couldn't agree more but will the world change for the good of the earth or will we continue to destroy it for a life of luxury?
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        Lisi Hoff

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        Mar 16 2012: That, to me is still a toss-up. Unless we do "wake up" destruction is inevitable. The other possibility that I see is that Mother Earth will continue and maybe escalate disasters.
        Crazy maybe :D. I do feel that the earth is a living organism and she wont put up with our abuse forever ;-p

        • Cher Calusa

          • +6
          Mar 21 2012: Earth is a living system and definitely has a feedback and response to changes and imbalance. Every system seeks homeostasis. This is a fundamental law of the Natural Universe, so I what you are feeling about Earth is a true perception. Necessity is the mother of invention and change. It is phenomenal how people will cooperate when disaster calls. We need to make the developmental jump in understanding that we can actually trade in this process of cause and consequence for focused intention and prevention. Every conversation we generate on this subject will speed us along to a greater consciousness. Our individual pleasures and perceptions are not as important as our collective efforts to unite our forces in order to navigate the wave of consequences moving towards us right now. We'll only be able to succeed together. It really is not about me and mine anymore.
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      Kathiresh Kumar

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      Mar 22 2012: well said david

    • Divam Narula

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      Mar 23 2012: I feel that the choice lies in the hands of very few (out of billions), both in taking the world towards destruction as well as towards development. And as an intellectual I feel that I have the power to have significant impact, through the choices I make in my life, in moving the world in either direction.

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