The Information Age - do you take it for granted?

[Kevin]

I am so happy we have the information age we do today. It just kills me that people 4 years younger than I am don't remember what it was like to do hard research.

I am probably preaching to the choir here, as I know many of you are older than I am (29 - 30 soon), but specifically, growing up, I remember having arguments even with my dad about technology. I loved things like Dick Tracy and Batman and James Bond... and we'd have arguments over whether or not it'd be possible to have such gadgets.

Gadgets such as watch phones:
http://www.sourcinggate.com/q008-trib...

Freebase Wingsuits (seen in Batman comics and Nightwing comics for years):
http://airlineworld.files.wordpress.c...

Or how about the Star Trek Communicator?
http://gadgetsngizmos.org/wp-content/...

Did you know that anyone who can afford 16 Playstation 3s can actually build their own supercomputer that rivals those at MIT!?
http://www.physorg.com/news92674403.html

I remember doing reports, once I had to go through stacks of books at the college library in order to find the information I needed on the Colorado Big Horn Sheep. It took me at least 4 hours just to find the information and copy it (with mom's help) and that wasn't even part of writing the report!

Now it takes about the same amount of time, searching the net for reliable sources is difficult to say the least, however, I can do it from my home. I don't have to rush out to the library before it closes. If I've a migraine, it won't kill the singular time window I have to get my information.

We have watches today that have the computing power of a desktop computer in the 1980s. We have cellphones that can remote control a bomb squad bomb sniffer (providing you know how to program it).

I have a camera the size of my palm that can take 1,000 photos with the same resolution as your average 1980s 35mm.

There are flash drives right now that can hold 64 GIGABYTES of Information. 64 GIGS!!!!!! Jesus, that's almost the size of my spare hard drive!!!!!!!!! AND THESE FLASH DRIVES ARE THE SIZE OF MY THUMB!!!!!!!!


Technology has grown so fast, sometimes I feel almost as if I'm suffering from Culture Shock. I'm happy about it! Look at how many lives cellphones have saved! I bet it's an incalculable figure. For all the harm of the technology age, it's amazing at how much good has come out of it.

Am I the only one who just falls down in awe at what's been happening around us the past 20 years alone? Not to mention the past 50 years...

[Paul]

The other, cynical, viewpoint is this: the more ways there are to communicate, the more banal and trivial the communication becomes. (Present company excepted of course.)

When it took time and effort to send someone a message, that message had to be worth sending. Now, it takes seconds, so people just send messages for the sake of it.

[Kevin]

Well I hope you don't think this is sending a message for the sake of it, but I agree for the most part ;D

You are right, the easier the communication, the more banal and trivial communication we will experience. However, this is where I believe the Darwin Award enters the equation. The intelligence of people are exposed through this communication, and despite my pessimism of so many levels of society, I'm an optimist that the intelligent of our species with further progress with far more ease despite the benality of the unintelligent slobs that try to pervert the information superhighway with their misdirection, misinformation and general lies.

Now, on the flip side, I've met many people who thought they knew the right answer but then found out they were wrong! I've been proven wrong a few times on some facts, and am better for it.

The other pro-side for the information superhighway is discussion. Intelligent discussion keeps the mind sharp and open to growth.

I enjoy discussion because of that. It's a fun form of recreation for me ^_^ Yes, I am that nuts.

[Paul]

Yes, the only problem with talking to yourself is that you tend to agree with yourself. If you argue with yourself, professional help is required urgenttly :)

Discussion with others, seeking other viewpoints, having the occasional disagreement, is vital for mental stability. We are, after all, a sociable and gregarious species.