Bigthink - User Ideas Feed

Why I Am a Neo-Luddite

Bigthink — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 05:17:36 +0100

: I don’t mean that I am entirely anti-technology; I oppose certain technologies that will fundamentally change or destroy humanity.

200 years ago, the Luddites in England saw the development of weaving machines as a threat to their way of life, a means to make their skills as weavers obsolete. As much as their views have been put down on the grounds that that the Industrial Revolution benefited humanity as a whole, I believe they had a point. They did become obsolete. There was no use for their skills, so to survive, families moved to cities, where the parents worked more hours for less pay and children had to work to help make ends meet. These people's standard of living decreased drastically.

Today we are on the brink of a new Industrial Revolution, also known as the Singularity. And now the stakes are much higher. The losers in this new revolution will not just be small-town weavers. What we are set to lose are the concepts of the humanity as it has been for the last 100,000 years and civilization as it has been for the past 5,000. I am, for the most part, satisfied with the state of technology today. It has served us well. What I don't want is what new technologies promise. Advocates of the Singularity claim that advances in nanotechnology, artificial intelligence, and genetic engineering will allow us to be smarter, immortal, and governed better. Much talk has been made of the possible disasters that these technologies could cause (Terminator, Gray Goo, etc.), but this is not what I take issue at. I am opposed to what Singularity supporters view as the upsides of these developments. I want our descendents to see us as we know see the Athenians and Romans, not as we see Lucy the ape-woman. I'm fine with humanity the way it is, not the way people like Ray Kurzweil say it should be, and that’s why I am a Neo-Luddite.

Would a Technological Singularity Benefit Mankind?

Bigthink — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 05:36:27 +0100

: Consider the implications of three technologies: Artificial intelligence, biotechnology, and nanotechnology.

Re: Technological Singularity: Fact? If so, why so? If not, why not?

Bigthink — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 07:15:56 +0100

: I think it is a fact. Researchers on the subject, like Ray Kurzweil, Hugo De Garis, etc. believe the Singularity is a fact, so we should take it seriously. Even more so because of the fact that the Singularity would by definition change everything. Humans must seriously consider the prospect of being replaced by a successor race and decide whether or not this is desirable.

Re: Human Overpopulation

Bigthink — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 06:55:26 +0100

I dispute the claim that religion is the basis of overpopulation. The reality of population growth lies in what is called the stages of demographic transition. At the first stage, the population has high crude birth and death rates, resulting in almost no population growth. After industrialization, a society enters stage two, marked by a decrease in the death rate. The birth rate stays the same, causing rapid growth. This is the stage developing countries are in today. Europe entered stage two during the Industrial Revolution but has since transitioned to stages three and four, which have low birth and death rates. The key to decreasing the rate of population growth is economic development and education. A more educated populace has fewer children. The only thing we can do is wait, of perhaps, participate in micro-lending. On the other hand, the actions of the Japanese and Europeans are not to be commended. The current fertility rate of Japan and Italy is 1.3 children born to each woman, well below the replacement rate of 2.3. This is unhealthy too as it leads to the graying of the population and population decline. Claiming that organized religion is to blame for overpopulation is ignorant.

Re: How does corporate globalization change the state-market relationship?

Bigthink — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 06:32:53 +0100

I posted this earlier on a thread about individualism, but it is relevant to this topic as well.

We have seen a remarkabe transition, facilitated by modern communications technology, towards radical centralization. Our modern world econony can be described as as outgrowth of the McDonalds model. It is more profitable and efficient today to run a multinational corporation than a small, independent shop. Economic calculation makes the world go round, and this is manifest in globalization. Americans effectively sell our materialistic values to other nations, replacing their cultures with ours. The people of those countries trade their own culture for dollars. Globalization homogenizes the landscape of the world, much like McDonalds and other fast food chains homogenized America in the last 50 years. This takes power out of the hands of governments and places it into the hands of corporations, a process that drives the creation of modern trade agreements. At a certain point, these interests will grow so powerful that they will try to form a worldwide trade union or world government, which will greatly improve business efficiency. This entire process sees individuals as cogs in a machine, and if those individuals see themselves as those cogs, they become more prosperous. And so people will sacrifice their freedom and individuality entirely for material gain.

Re: Is Individualism fading?

Bigthink — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 06:23:11 +0100

: Yes, I believe it is. We have seen a remarkabe transition, facilitated by modern communications technology, towards radical centralization. Our modern world econony can be described as as outgrowth of the McDonalds model. It is more profitable and efficient today to run a multinational corporation than a small, independent shop. Economic calculation makes the world go round, and this is manifest in globalization. Americans effectively sell our materialistic values to other nations, replacing their cultures with ours. The people of those countries trade their own culture for dollars. Globalization homogenizes the landscape of the world, much like McDonalds and other fast food chains homogenized America in the last 50 years. This takes power out of the hands of governments and places it into the hands of corporations, a process that drives the creation of modern trade agreements. At a certain point, these interests will grow so powerful that they will try to form a worldwide trade union or world government, which will greatly improve business efficiency. This entire process sees individuals as cogs in a machine, and if those individuals see themselves as those cogs, they become more prosperous. And so people will sacrifice their freedom and individuality entirely for material gain.