Is technology killing our gut instincts and intuition?

[Alan Klein]

Then NASA developed Tang, that breakfast substitute for orange juice. It was sold here in the US for awhile for ordinary citizens. Frankly, pencils tasted better.

 

[Theo Sulphate]

There was a lot of money spent on developing a pen that would write in weightless conditions when in orbit above the earth, The Russians continued to use what was at hand and was thoroughly reliable every time with no cost - it is called a pencil!

The true story is not quite so dramatic or outrageous:

http://www.snopes.com/business/genius/spacepen.asp

 

[Jim Noel]

I have made 87, almost 88 trips around the sun. 66 of these were spent teaching which causes me to have a different outlook on technology and the results of its overuse. In a few words here are my observations of the effects of so much technology.
1. Even college students for the most part can not do simple mathematics without a calculator - %age for instance.
2. Multiplication, division and square root are a total mystery to many.
3. estimation is a lost skill whether it be area, distance, product of two or three large numbers, height, time, or many other areas of thought..
4. Problem solving is only done with a computer.
5. Without a cell phone or computer of some kind most have no idea of how to begin a research project no matter how large or small.
In other words, many things which are to me to be accomplished with no assistance from mechanical or digital devices are too complicated for most people who have grown up in the computer age.

 

[jgoody]

My son grew up at the dawn of the "calculator age", while I grew up with a slide rule. I noticed that his results were either more accurate, or way off. With a slide rule you have to do a little mental math to place the decimal point -- it was hard to convince him that that might prevent serious errors from creeping in due to an incorrect entry. Somehow that seems to sum up for me what we have lost.

 

[frank]

Remember when our teachers said we needed to memorize the times tables because we wouldn't always have a calculator with us?

 

[Sirius Glass]

I have made 87, almost 88 trips around the sun. 66 of these were spent teaching which causes me to have a different outlook on technology and the results of its overuse. In a few words here are my observations of the effects of so much technology.
1. Even college students for the most part can not do simple mathematics without a calculator - %age for instance.
2. Multiplication, division and square root are a total mystery to many.
3. estimation is a lost skill whether it be area, distance, product of two or three large numbers, height, time, or many other areas of thought..
4. Problem solving is only done with a computer.
5. Without a cell phone or computer of some kind most have no idea of how to begin a research project no matter how large or small.
In other words, many things which are to me to be accomplished with no assistance from mechanical or digital devices are too complicated for most people who have grown up in the computer age.

Yes, yes, yes, yes and yes. I agree on all counts.

My son grew up at the dawn of the "calculator age", while I grew up with a slide rule. I noticed that his results were either more accurate, or way off. With a slide rule you have to do a little mental math to place the decimal point -- it was hard to convince him that that might prevent serious errors from creeping in due to an incorrect entry. Somehow that seems to sum up for me what we have lost.

We also had to account for unit conversions and I still do the estimations and unit conversion when I use a calculator or a computer.

 

[Mainecoonmaniac]

Is technology a solution looking for a problem? Also, are companies creating false needs for useless junk?

 

[Pioneer]

These discussions always seem a bit amusing. We are discussing problems that have always been problems, only the tools are different. There really never have been good old days, it is only our individual, biased memories, or worse, our imaginations that make it seem so. Every era has seen people sitting around discussing how "technology" has resulted in the loss of so much skill.

This has been true since far before we even were able to keep track of our own history. Improved technology has always replaced older, less efficient, technology. And I suspect there have always been people bemoaning that fact.

Those college students that you mention have all grown up in a totally different age. Yes, they have lost some of the abilities that we take for granted. But they are also expected to learn much more, much faster, than any of us had to. Something has to give and for some of them, the fact that a simple calculator or their phone, will quickly give them answers to basic mathematics allows them to move towards more advanced learning that some of us have never been required to learn. Maybe those skills should be retained, maybe not. If the ability to use a slide rule, or the knowledge of simple mathematics was so important, why were we in such a hurry to provide devices that allowed everyone to simplify those processes?

Believe me, if we all had to suddenly return to the age of the slide rule, we would lose much more than the ability to calculate. Just the flow of electricity to our homes, or the on-time delivery of food to our supermarkets, requires abilities that far surpass our ability to coordinate without advanced computer technology and communications.

We are able to make decisions regarding which camera we want to use, or how we wish to print, or all the other creative decisions we want to make, because of that technology in our lives, not in spite of it.

 

[removed account4]

hookworm

 

[LAG]

... for most people who have grown up in the computer age.

And also for many others ... before that age

My son grew up at the dawn of the "calculator age"...

How old is your son? (see Abacus)

These discussions always seem a bit amusing...

IMO, discussing is enriching

... Improved technology has always replaced older, less efficient, technology...

Always? Less efficient? ... I don't think so. I do not believe so

...But they are also expected to learn much more, much faster, than any of us had to.

Faster? Has that anything to do directly proportional with quality?

Film vs d.g.t.l.:

Here is a simple mathematical question: It's always better adding than subtracting.

For those who the technology argument so far is d.g.i.t.al vs film, I would say them that it's not about that, if our passion is Photography we shouldn't refuse either of these two pathways or anything that takes part of it. To create a Photograph you do not need neither a d.g.t.al sensor nor a film.

 

[Dali]

not sure how this became a film vs digggital thread
but i think it is kind of funny that it always ends up to be one.

couldn't agree more thomas, frank and mark
the endless " film is so much better" rants have gotten
rather boring. im glad people like film, im glad people have figured out
how to make electronic images, or mix both film and electronic stuff together
and i am glad there is less and less chest thumping about one or the other.
i'm more than happy using both, and have been having a blast making paper negatives
and cyanotypes from electronic files, or adding colors to black and white, or making modern trichromes.
like bob said, the creative possibilities seem to be endless at this time, and i like that, too

I think you got me wrong. I don't mean that digital is better or worse than film and I don't want to start a film vs digital war (I have not time to spare for such nonsense) but due to the fact that there is not much development on film cameras, today's technology is represented by digital cameras, hence my example.

Even if I don't own or use digital camera, I see a lot of people around me (starting with my wife) using them and most of their complains lies on the fact that they don't have the minimal knowledge to understand what the camera is supposed to do and how to get rid of the recurrent issues they have. After all, these technological jewels were sold as having answers to everything...

 

[Mainecoonmaniac]

I think you got me wrong. I don't mean that digital is better or worse than film and I don't want to start a film vs digital war (I have not time to spare for such nonsense)

I don't have time for a discussion about digital vs film either. I started this thread to have a discussion about over dependence on technology. I use digital cameras and computers myself. My day job is a tech monkey at a university art department. I also manage a computer lab and seen the amount of money required to run a computer lab for equipment and software. Right now, the university is forced to subscribe to Adobe Creative Cloud at $20/month per workstation. In our group of computer labs, we have over 60 computers. Also, we have to upgrade our lab every 3 years. Do the math. IMHO, there is little value added with every upgrade of software and computer. Our program also have an art studio major where students don't use technology with their studies. Those students usually don't feel the pressure to spend money on technology and only buy art supplies for their class. There are faculty totally immersed in technology to faculty that use technology minimally. Since I've seen both sides, I have a philosophy of "I use technology, but I don't let technology use me."

 

[Thomas Bertilsson]

Since I've seen both sides, I have a philosophy of "I use technology, but I don't let technology use me."

Nice. That sums up my feelings too.

 

[Dali]

I have a philosophy of "I use technology, but I don't let technology use me."

I fully agree but I am afraid others already chose for you.

 

[baachitraka]

In the last 10 years I have witnessed that technology has almost killed the habit of reading. I used to see so many people read in the bus or in the tram but on these days it is very seldom to find someone with a book. :-(

I have used calculators to solve recursive Newton-xx methods in Bachelor of Engineering and that was replaced by Matlab in Master studies some 10 years ago but I do not know the current trend.

 

[Mainecoonmaniac]

I fully agree but I am afraid others already chose for you.

Oh yes. I have a confession. I started the smart phone habit. They're great for when you travel out of town. Yelp can give me rating of restaurants, the GPS is great for finding out where I am. I so now, I'm resisting upgrading. I think $600 for a new phone is too much.

 

[DREW WILEY]

My grandfather's generation was far more literate than mine. The current generation is dramatically even less literate. Of course, there are still opportunities for serious education and those still interested. But most of the population has gotten dumbed down by the Misinformation Age. It's largely about addicting millions of people to the latest and great electronic gadgets, and then getting overwhlemed by what I'd call "reverse censorship". In other words, the propagandistic use of sheer volume rather than eliminating the competition. He who has the biggest media megaphone can drown out the others. That's why Smartphones are smart - they're ectoparasites attach themselves to people's ears and suck
all their own brains out. They're behind all this new self-driving car technology - people pick up a cell phone and the car self-drives itself into the next
lane, or off the road, or into a tree. The morning commute was twice as fast and ten times safer before.

 

[dpurdy]

I have found for myself that boredom leads to creativity. When I find I am bored I go with it. I sit down and be bored and in a few minutes I start having either creative ideas or I start thinking of things I need to take care of. I think a lot of what draws people to personal technology things like phones and computers is an instant escape from boredom. You can either sit there and be bored and think about how bored you are or you can pop out the smart phone and look at your facebook or email. I do think that some amount of creativity is lost by using quick fixes to your boredom, and that includes watching TV.

 

[dugrant153]

I think technology is really cool. Our lives at times are dependent on it. However, I have a feeling that technology is killing our gut instincts and intuition. We have digital cameras that give you instant feedback of your image along with a histogram, GPS units that give you pin point accuracy of your location. New technology is killing old skills that people relied on daily. ... Millennials has lost people skills from being on their smart phones all the time. I think even the medical profession with all the high tech test have killed gut instincts. A lot of doctors have to back up their guesses with a test. So what's your take on the advancement of technology?

I think this is a good observation although perhaps in some ways technology and the resulting loss of intuition and gut instinct has always been happening but in the older days it was just on a slower scale. For example: Before the television and radio, you could say that people were forced to be more social with each other or to go outside and observe the world. When the TV and radio came along, society changed and probably made us lose gut instincts and intuition that we had before the advent of that technology. Perhaps instead of talking to people in our community and being tightly connected, we all just sat at the TV/Radio and lost our ability to socialize?

The digital revolution, in the various forms it has come in, is doing the exact same thing... but I would argue, it is doing this at an exceptionally faster pace than any of the previous technologies. This has created a society and a people who are heavily reliant on the technology for most of it's basic needs and even wants. We no longer have to hunt for food, harvest it and in some cases even cook it. We don't have to avoid the dangers of old (wildlife, for example) but we do have to adapt to the new dangers (lack of physical activity, electrocution).

I think we have to think of it as a double-edged sword. In many ways, technology has extended our lives, allowed us to live better and easier and has created for us more opportunities to explore the world than we ever would have 20, 30, or 100 years ago. On the other hand, it can be a destructive force that could also damages our health (microwaves?) and can become substitutes for true interaction with people. The key to finding a happy medium is using the technology to make life better while still maintaining one's own humanity.

 

[Mainecoonmaniac]

I have found for myself that boredom leads to creativity. When I find I am bored I go with it. I sit down and be bored and in a few minutes I start having either creative ideas or I start thinking of things I need to take care of. I think a lot of what draws people to personal technology things like phones and computers is an instant escape from boredom. You can either sit there and be bored and think about how bored you are or you can pop out the smart phone and look at your facebook or email. I do think that some amount of creativity is lost by using quick fixes to your boredom, and that includes watching TV.

It's very true that boredom leads to creativity. Though I love technology and make a living from technology, always being on the internet and watching TV distorts ones perceptions. How can we see the world as it really is by having everything filtered through media and technology? Technology allows us to see the world in different ways. Allowing everyone to share their views. Technology has also democratized the production of photographs, movies and music. Technology is a wonderful, but for me, I try not to let it consume me. After a long day at work dealing with technology, I enjoy therapeutic task of engaging in the real world of doing household chores like cooking. My wife and I had lunch out yesterday. There was a family where both kids had Ipads. They were totally immersed at the table with their video games. This reminds me so much of an Edward Hopper painting and Chet Bakers song "Alone together." It's really sad.

 

[DREW WILEY]

Well there are a lot of advances in medicine, and now it is a lot easier to blow up the world. But better lives?? Except for the specific R&D superstructure behind it, all this digital technology has destroyed far more jobs than it has created, and the ones left behind are at a far lower pay and benefit scale relative to cost of living. There are serious toxicity and pollution issues. Too late now, and the third big earthquake will be robotics. I happen to live at the epicenter of all this, so see both sides. Then the social side. Twenty-somethings sit in our lunch room right across the table from
one another and text each other.... what th *#2** is this world coming to?

 

[Old-N-Feeble]

My grandfather's generation was far more literate than mine. The current generation is dramatically even less literate. Of course, there are still opportunities for serious education and those still interested. But most of the population has gotten dumbed down by the Misinformation Age. It's largely about addicting millions of people to the latest and great electronic gadgets, and then getting overwhlemed by what I'd call "reverse censorship". In other words, the propagandistic use of sheer volume rather than eliminating the competition. He who has the biggest media megaphone can drown out the others. That's why Smartphones are smart - they're ectoparasites attach themselves to people's ears and suck
all their own brains out. They're behind all this new self-driving car technology - people pick up a cell phone and the car self-drives itself into the next
lane, or off the road, or into a tree. The morning commute was twice as fast and ten times safer before.

huh i dnt no wut yr tlking abt iliterut wut?

TRANSLATION: Another step towards 'Newspeak'... control of the uninformed / 'ignernt'.

 

[DREW WILEY]

Hits pernounced "iggorant"! What is you? Iggorant?

 

[Old-N-Feeble]

i ain't iggorant wutta ya' think i be ignernt?

 

[LAG]

Do not let "your creative writing technology" ruin this thread, please!