The Computer, the Entertainment Industry, and the Degenerating Modern Brain

basically computer technology exposes the weakness of our ability to adapt, when the internet stores everything and processes information for us, our brain decides those functions are no longer needed and adapts accordingly.

i always had the suspicion that greys were future humans who look that way because they adapted to technology, or we'll at least look similar one day.

think about what might happen when the brain no longer needs to use space for emotions, physical exertions, food, sex, social interactions, calculations, storing data, survival, war, etc... esp will happen this way one day i bet.

i bet humanity will go on the path of extinction this way too... ai will replace us because our unquenching desire for convenience will destroy us.

.....

originally posted by: Talorc
a reply to: toysforadults

Very appropriate name for this thread.

I am not a Luddite and I value functional and practical technology. But I mistrust any technology created only for human comfort and ease. Humans aren't meant to live easy lives, just like a dog shouldn't be penned up in a small enclosed space with nothing to do but eat and chew on rubber toys. It will develop numerous pathologies and neurotic behaviors. Humans who live too placidly and comfortably also develop many pathologies.

See population sink and "Mice Utopia" experiment for more information.

Just wantd to post real quick b4 i sleep. thanks for the references. this is something new to chew on.

a reply to: Observationalist

Cash payouts were quickly abandoned as it became clear that pinball and gambling weren’t a comfortable (or legal) match

Lol, the circumvention of morality, is it gambling or 'leisure' (fun)? Interesting bit from your external clip. Thats how I remember it, too.

Penny arcades at boardwalks, to video arcades, to hand held devices, we is hooked.

You don't have to go to vegas anymore, they get the money from the monthly fees and any 'apps'.

Makes sense to start them young. I know when I would play Pinball and I got extended play or extra ball it felt like I won the lottery.

Now the same feeling occurs when you unlock a new level or power up. Heck my kids get all jazzed up just when Minecraft has new updates.

Wen I was a kid my mom used to kick us out the house to go play. "Turn off that TV and go outside." The world ended when I got my first 19 inch B & W TV. The only thing that saved me from insanity in the early video games years was running out of quarters. You couldn't take the machine home, it was too big.

I used to trouble myself to sleep, visions of asteroids and space invaders dancing in my head.

Make sure your kids get their 'outdoors' time.

That you for that historical read as well.

a reply to: namehere

when the internet stores everything and processes information for us, our brain decides those functions are no longer needed and adapts accordingly.

Mmm, lots easer to 'go' online than 'go' to the library.

I find the ease of discovering some factoid or learning something about world events far easier today.

Have a question? Get in car, drive to library, walk inside, go to card index, find subject, list sources, look up books on shelf, read them... (maybe) you'll find your answer... or just hit return.

a reply to: Talorc

I am very happy that you have posted this thread. For a very long time I have been meaning to write about this degeneration of the human mind up to a level that they become mere robots incapable of doing much to impact their environment.

Personally, I do not care too much. I am not being sucked into the whirlpool. If the populace becomes infantile then it is their own fault. However, I would say that it presents limitless opportunities for those who are immune to all this brainwashing that stems from entertainment and technology.

I find it quite sickening to see what is being shown on TV and how people surrender to technology as if it was their god.

I have long thought about the consequence and what sort of beings will populate the planet.

My conclusions :-

1)It is a minority that will retain control of their faculties (one of which is the ability to create situations and make things happen)

2)The majority will hate the minority and marginalise them. If you don't embrace social media or worship technology you will be victimised.


3)It will become dangerous (in the distant future) to show that you are different. You will be branded a threat.

4)The only solution for the survivors of the pychological degeneration is to strenthen their abilities and develop their inate powers. Remember humans always had power over the animal kingdom and the machine. So it is that resistant human will have power over infantile human (irrespective of their numbers)

a reply to: Talorc

Your comparing apples to oranges. Things are far more complex today. Engineering a locomotive is slightly different than engineering modern structure or equipment. The projects are broken into dozens of disciplines then organized into sequences, given impossible schedules and usually managed successfully.

No body in any point of history could keep the full vision of entire modern project in their head without the modern tools we have developed to aid us. If you think you can I believe you have never been given the responsibility to undertake a modern project and have no idea the thought and imagination that goes into making these things possible.

I contest everything you wrote and mildly insulted.

originally posted by: crowdedskies
a reply to: Talorc

I am very happy that you have posted this thread. For a very long time I have been meaning to write about this degeneration of the human mind up to a level that they become mere robots incapable of doing much to impact their environment.

Personally, I do not care too much. I am not being sucked into the whirlpool. If the populace becomes infantile then it is their own fault. However, I would say that it presents limitless opportunities for those who are immune to all this brainwashing that stems from entertainment and technology.

I find it quite sickening to see what is being shown on TV and how people surrender to technology as if it was their god.

I have long thought about the consequence and what sort of beings will populate the planet.

My conclusions :-

1)It is a minority that will retain control of their faculties (one of which is the ability to create situations and make things happen)

You mean simple situations that are no longer relevant to modern times. There will still be sports and tech has stayed reasonably clear from that. We will still be entertained by uneducated barbarians.

2)The majority will hate the minority and marginalise them. If you don't embrace social media or worship technology you will be victimised.

Why? What will these unique minorities be doing or possessing that will make the rest of evolved humanity hate them?

3)It will become dangerous (in the distant future) to show that you are different. You will be branded a threat.

It will mean you are slow, uneducated and gainful employment will certainly resist having to accommodate your "unique" abilities

4)The only solution for the survivors of the pychological degeneration is to strenthen their abilities and develop their inate powers. Remember humans always had power over the animal kingdom and the machine. So it is that resistant human will have power over infantile human (irrespective of their numbers)

A great comic book you came up with. Good luck in the future with inate powers. There's always welfare...

originally posted by: Talorc
A well-known thinker back in the 80s brought up this idea in a video I was watching, and I think it'd be well to expand on it. Keep in mind this was very soon after the advent of the computer, or at least public awareness of it.

The crux of the idea is this: in the past and still now for the most part, though this may quickly change, the brain is constantly active-- daily tasks and routines require it to think formulaically, memorize vast amounts of information, and rely on its own power of recall and recognition, and be able to quickly identify patterns and modify behavior. The brain is a computer, essentially, with its own programs and processing. Some computers are faster and more powerful than others, we know this. The fear, then, is that as our computers become faster and able to store more information, there's an inverse correlation with the capability of our own brains to remember and logically process things.

For example, at the start of the industrial revolution a man would have to read a schematic and, going by his own knowledge and memory, start production on,
say, the locomotive engine. There were no computers that could seamlessly create a 3-D scale diagram with exact measurements, and no robotic machinery to actually assemble the engine on the factory line. Everything was produced by hand on an assembly line, and every schematic first conceptualized in the human mind and put on paper by human hands.

Or go back even further to the prehistoric era: memory and a sharp mind were essential to survival. Getting the lay of the land, recalling landmarks and paths through the wilderness, identifying edible plant species, knowing the movements and tendencies of animal herds, tracking and hunting-- all this hinging on the sheer power of the human mind and an extensive reserve of first-hand knowledge and experience. All this in pre-literate peoples who had to rely solely on their own memories to survive.

Now, think about how much you actually have to remember to survive in modern times. If you work in an office, for example, you'll need to know how to drive a car to and from work, how to work a computer and use a spreadsheet, how to buy groceries, how to pay bills, etc. But how hard is all that, really? You have GPS to get you places, so you don't even need to know directions anymore. You pay with a credit card so you don't have to figure prices and count exact change. You don't have to remember mathematical formulas and do arithmetic for work, because your calculator and Excel do all that for you. You pay your bills online. You hardly have to use good penmanship because everything is done via keyboard and phone. You can look up the definitions of words and synonyms on google. You have reminders on your phone so you don't forget things.

Now this is where the entertainment industry comes into play. Pure entertainment and "spectacle" is more widespread than ever before in human history. For the placid modern mind, this is essential for people's sanity. They must be occupied with something, distracted by mummery and people emoting and acting out fantasized, unrealistic scripts that mimic human interaction to satiate people's need for socialization. The average office worker hardly needs to socialize and communicate with anyone at all to go about his daily tasks, and we are probably more emotionally isolated than ever before.

The result is that people become infantilized and incapable, and this happens very rapidly. The only alternative is to use all this newfound free-time to explore one's psychology and reach a sort of transcendent state by strict discipline and study. But this isn't likely to happen, it's much more likely that people's minds degenerate to the level of emotional children.

The truth of this is very obvious and if you try to flat out deny it, you just haven't thought hard enough.

That's a cool theory! Where is the evidence that it is true?

originally posted by: MALBOSIA


A great comic book you came up with. Good luck in the future with inate powers. There's always welfare...

No need for your good luck wishes. I have a successful financial career; investment portfolio and have to divide my spare time between piloting a private aircraft and ndulging in several hobbies including painting, musical instruments and magical training. Perhaps it is you who will need to consider welfare. Do you want me to look it up for you ?

originally posted by: crowdedskies

originally posted by: MALBOSIA


A great comic book you came up with. Good luck in the future with inate powers. There's always welfare...

No need for your good luck wishes. I have a successful financial career; investment portfolio and have to divide my spare time between piloting a private aircraft and ndulging in several hobbies including painting, musical instruments and magical training. Perhaps it is you who will need to consider welfare. Do you want me to look it up for you ?

And you figure you achieved all that with diminished brain functions?

Just to grasp all that variety of interest is well beyond what was conceivable even 30 years ago.

You can't honestly live the life you live and claim that we are going backwards, do you?

I don't like watching my kid make video game apps instead of playing outside and making real friends but that has more to do my nostalgia than any data or belief that he is hurting his chances of making the most of his abilities.

It's a different world. The generations today are way more talented and capable than I ever thought was necessary or even possible when I was coming up and I'm not even 40 yet.

originally posted by: MALBOSIA

It's a different world. The generations today are way more talented and capable than I ever thought was necessary or even possible when I was coming up and I'm not even 40 yet.

I think that people are over-estimating the abilities of the younger generation. Sure they think fast but that is just a natural calibration of the mind to the environment.

I see the negative side of the dependence on technology and gadjets. The young people from as young as 6 years are being sucked into this IT world where decisions and judgement no longer emanates from their mind.

I have always maintain that in the new age, it will take at least 200 years for humans to adapt to the technologies that they are developing and make effective use of it. What we have now is as follows :-

1)Exciting internet banking only matched by hackers stealing billions form banks and customers

2)Exciting internet games leading to shocking additions by millions to them.

3)Emails that create more work for everybody. People are now spending about half a day checking their email rather than getting on with work

4)Time flies , in case you have not noticed. Technology makes years pass like months. Before you know it, it is time to meet your maker

I maintain that without these rapid and unchecked technological advances, we would be far more advanced; using other resources and insights.

In my own experience, any use I make of technology is simply a grabbing of whatever tools I have around. It does not mean that I am in praise of those tools.

Without technology and science , humans would have developped in their telapathic abilities and also learn to travel through dimension.

a reply to: Talorc

This is an "old" post, but I would love to just check out of all the political stuff and talk about ideas like these.

For some background on me so you can see where I'm coming from. I have degrees in math, arts, computer science, and engineering. I'm very good at generating data and at using data.

At the beginning of the industrial revolution, or earlier... we had artisians who could build their product from the beginning until the end. This requires a lot of education, and a lot of practice. In modern times, I'm one of these people, I can work with technology on any level.

The problem though is one of complexity. Machines outperform humans, and the more tasks a machine does, the more complex it gets. Therefore, it makes the most economic sense, to break a task down into a series of steps and use one specialized machine for each step.

It creates boring work, but it is very productive work, and very profitable work. It also removes the education requirement, allowing anyone to more easily get work.

Now to the second part of your statement, you feel that our devices are isolating us. I have a different theory that perhaps you'll consider: Every great advancement in humanity came forth from a great advancement in the ability to write more efficiently.

The printing press bringing in the enlightenment is obvious, but there's more than that. Printed books lowered the price to publishers. It was even no later than 20 years ago where getting published was a major deal, yet today we can all self publish anything we want. Then there's the ability to communicate with our network devices. The words I'm writing now, are searchable by nearly 8 billion people on the planet, and they're going to be committed to memory for at least the next 250 years. That's a type of spread and preservation typically awarded only to those of Shakespeare's quality, and my internet ramblings will never disappear.

We are more connected than ever. There are issues where people feel alone, but one persons words have a wider impact today, than at any previous point in history. Any of us, can speak to any other person in the world, on demand, at low cost. It's an amazing time to be alive.

And what do we do with this communication? We use it to build data. Data that makes all of our machines run more efficiently.

originally posted by: worldstarcountry
Yea, good luck listening to the GPS when your friends can't drive you home from the party cuz they are too drunk and your stranded. Whats even more pathetic, is that many teens don't even know the names of streets at major intersections near their own home! Although I find this problem more in the female demographic than males.

I don't know street names either. I am bad at names, all names. I also don't use a GPS in most situations. If you give me a point on a map and a general direction to travel, I can get there. But if you list street by street, I will quickly become lost.