Sep 26 2012: I totally agree.
And it comes to my mind that I actually don't know, what the talk was really about. What does McAffee mean with "technology"? Has he made any differences between useful and not so useful technology? Most of it is used for mass production and so it ends in mass consumption. If it was true that humans get more time in being replaced by droids it were already true, no?
So I thought about it: yes, I have time to focus on my job (as long as I have one) and my child. Because I don't have to wash clothes with my hands, I don't have to bake bread, I don't have to harvest the corn. But maybe some of the things I don't have to do, would give back some sense to my life. "Modern" societies seem to be free but we mostly just replaced our own responsibility by others (education, production, feeding, medicine, energy and so on).
Is anybody capable of more than one special skill? At least it would be good we would keep some basic abilities to us and our families - like lowering fever without medication, don't get lost in the woods, improvise when technical facilities doesn't work. The single human isn't an expert at all.
In School we teach mostly theoretical stuff but understanding the laws of physics, bio-diversity by the age of 8, I haven't heard about, though I think it is possible. As much older the kids grow they are more and more job focused and that means they are focused on what the market requires. Where can I get paid best, where do I see the most chances in future rather than: what is my own intention? What I am talented in? Do I have a passion? What does my job mean for society? ......
Sep 24 2012: I cannot speak for humankind. I can only speak for myself. But as I am embedded in society, I believe that most people believe what the majority says. So if majority is feeding mostly up with bad news, have a not satisfying job, read books/papers and extract the negative things out of it, listen to destructive rather than to constructive people, remember more bad than good experiences, you will get a "No" for a bright future. And vice versa.
I think the main source is the media (tv, newspapers, magazines, internet).
Ask people where they get their opinions from. The negative point of view is coming from the outside and gives examples of how evil the world is (war, poverty, all forms of ...isms, crime, markets etc.), the positive view often is a result of personal experience. I myself became careful with people who solve the problems of our world from the couch or carry the earths suffering on their shoulders, rarely talking about themselves in a personal way. Instead I love to listen to people who talk about what really happened to themselves (in their job or daily life) or even better: show me something I didn't know so far and use for myself.
Sep 24 2012: I do not quite understand Technology in the way it functions or is constructed. I am only handling it (phone, computer, car, dish-washer etc.). Many things I take for granted: water, electricity, waste management, trains, cars and so forth. Though I have a lot of access to knowledge I am neither an expert in creating/building things nor crafting. I am good at using my computer software, surfing the net, talking, writing (though not in English - I am German) and consulting. To make my point: obviously the main thing I do is consuming.
Even though I had kind of a good education and willing to learn my whole life, I do not feel really satisfied. And it may have to do with technology as well. As I am a technology-consumer, not creator, it makes me feel less ... worth. Same with medicine, food-growing/harvesting, ... name it. I cannot see myself as a person whom you can call an "allrounder". But for some reason I like this idea to be independent in a way. Or cooperate/collaborate with others who have different skills.
So besides all the technology enthusiasm (which often seems to me comes from a preference of playing) there must be people on the other hand who balance it out.
I think too, the speaker is too narrow sided with his topic and I miss that feeling when I sense something about a person which makes me think: he or she has accomplished something really significant. I did not see that in Andrew McAffee. So I guess (please correct me if I am wrong) that he is just another consumer, like me and Million other ones.
I have a question: What would you make out of your life, when you would minimize your consumption and increase your production? What would you like to produce/create? If anyone has an answer to that, I will read it with great interest. I still do not really know my own answer to this.
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A reply on Talk: Andrew McAfee: Are droids taking our jobs?
And it comes to my mind that I actually don't know, what the talk was really about. What does McAffee mean with "technology"? Has he made any differences between useful and not so useful technology? Most of it is used for mass production and so it ends in mass consumption. If it was true that humans get more time in being replaced by droids it were already true, no?
So I thought about it: yes, I have time to focus on my job (as long as I have one) and my child. Because I don't have to wash clothes with my hands, I don't have to bake bread, I don't have to harvest the corn. But maybe some of the things I don't have to do, would give back some sense to my life. "Modern" societies seem to be free but we mostly just replaced our own responsibility by others (education, production, feeding, medicine, energy and so on).
Is anybody capable of more than one special skill? At least it would be good we would keep some basic abilities to us and our families - like lowering fever without medication, don't get lost in the woods, improvise when technical facilities doesn't work. The single human isn't an expert at all.
In School we teach mostly theoretical stuff but understanding the laws of physics, bio-diversity by the age of 8, I haven't heard about, though I think it is possible. As much older the kids grow they are more and more job focused and that means they are focused on what the market requires. Where can I get paid best, where do I see the most chances in future rather than: what is my own intention? What I am talented in? Do I have a passion? What does my job mean for society? ......
A comment on Conversation: Do you believe that our future is bright, if yes, why and if not, why not?
I think the main source is the media (tv, newspapers, magazines, internet).
Ask people where they get their opinions from. The negative point of view is coming from the outside and gives examples of how evil the world is (war, poverty, all forms of ...isms, crime, markets etc.), the positive view often is a result of personal experience. I myself became careful with people who solve the problems of our world from the couch or carry the earths suffering on their shoulders, rarely talking about themselves in a personal way. Instead I love to listen to people who talk about what really happened to themselves (in their job or daily life) or even better: show me something I didn't know so far and use for myself.
A lot of stuff is just intellectual boredom.
A comment on Talk: Andrew McAfee: Are droids taking our jobs?
Even though I had kind of a good education and willing to learn my whole life, I do not feel really satisfied. And it may have to do with technology as well. As I am a technology-consumer, not creator, it makes me feel less ... worth. Same with medicine, food-growing/harvesting, ... name it. I cannot see myself as a person whom you can call an "allrounder". But for some reason I like this idea to be independent in a way. Or cooperate/collaborate with others who have different skills.
So besides all the technology enthusiasm (which often seems to me comes from a preference of playing) there must be people on the other hand who balance it out.
I think too, the speaker is too narrow sided with his topic and I miss that feeling when I sense something about a person which makes me think: he or she has accomplished something really significant. I did not see that in Andrew McAffee. So I guess (please correct me if I am wrong) that he is just another consumer, like me and Million other ones.
I have a question: What would you make out of your life, when you would minimize your consumption and increase your production? What would you like to produce/create? If anyone has an answer to that, I will read it with great interest. I still do not really know my own answer to this.