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"Somewhere else" mobile phone project
zenguitar
Bad BuddhistNew England Veteran
Hi Sangha, I thought these photos were interesting and somewhat disturbing.
"The public arena is now full of people who are ‘Somewhere Else’ - physically in one situation, while mentally in another. At the bus stop or on a work break we cannot just be in the moment connecting with the world around us, we have to be speaking to , texting or e-mailing someone who isn’t there."
http://www.joshphoto.com/photographs/somewhere_else_-_mobile_phone_project#_self
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Comments
I recently saw a tweet (rather fittingly) where someone had updated the phrase "Dance like nobody's watching" by adding "They're not, they're all looking at their phones"
Anyhow, it will pass, so lets enjoy it anyway, ha
The artificial intelligence will beat the human intelligence, so it's better to adjust in time.
The day that happens, I'm packing it in.
How can you recognise that day? Philip K. Dick (Blade Runner, Total Recall, Minority Report...) told already in 1977 that we are living in a computer programme. He might have been out of his mind speeding too much, but this is scary what's happening around us now.
As you said Philip K Dick was off his nut on amphetamines a lot of the time. Amphetamine psychosis is very similar to the paranoid delusions of people with Schizophrenia and Schizo-affective disorder. So I'd take what he said with a pinch of salt.
Philip K. Dick was very creative in his amphetamine habit, that's one reason many creative people use stimulants. But people who are connected deeply in the technology are living in a world that is more or less artificial. And I truly believe that the AI will beat the humanity.
There are still humans at the receiving end.
For instance us here, we're human beings from different parts of the world brought together by a device and a programme.
Over forty years ago, we couldn't have even met.
And my son speaks with his Grandma and uncle over Skype everyday.
Technology can be used to shorten distances between human beings, too, not just alienate ourselves from the spontaneity of the moment.
"Type the code to prove you are not a robot".
I don't say technology is "good" or "bad". It may improve the quality of life and ease communication when distances are long but it has its pitfalls. I find it strange when a couple meet in a cafe and both start to stare their mobiles. Anyways, it's their own business.
The Buddhist philosophy has a major impact on the cultural evolution of humankind, but the artificial intelligence may be the last state of this evolution.
Have you seen the "Terminator" films?
"I'll be back"....
Take your pick which model do you want to be your future self ?
Perhaps.
I feel it more likely the process will move from dependent on technology to constant technology (where many of us are) and finally integration with AI.
The idea that we will not use nano bytes, artificial or grown improved bio-parts and implanted and augmenting AI, shows little understanding of our adaptability. If we want rebirth/immortality then perhaps this is one way . . .
I iz Buddha Borg! Resistance is feudal!
Yesh! Arnold will be back in the new Terminator film!
Those models look like samurais.
Nikola Tesla had a vision of world wide communication web, but he was a crazy scientist with funny thoughts.
The cultural evolution may lead us into the paradise and a human being will finally be like an image of God. Or shit may happen... It's better to prepare oneself to the possibility that something goes wrong.
My country used to have more mobiles and internet connections than anywhere else per capita in the World. But we still have more chainsaws than anywhere else. The land of chainsaws.
I hear they have a lot of chainsaws in Texas, I saw a rather disturbing film about that....
"Hasta la vista, Dalek, you can't even climb a set of stairs..."
I have my own personal chainsaw at home
It's like an assault rifle for a Swiss. Yes I've seen two films about that Texas reality.
Of course the connection between AI and people (and other animals) should be mutual. AI, quantum computers, biocomputers, applications we can't predict yet. Hopefully everything goes nice and smooth...
Anyway, regardless of the AI implications, I am guilty of this myself. I consciously have to stop myself from pulling out my phone when I am the least bit bored while walking about. Why can't I just enjoy the scenery? Or I might find that I use the phone as a way to avoid talking to a live person next to me. Of course, they may be doing the same thing..
And many people are wearing headphones though birds are singing and the wind makes its own voice (I live in a suburban area). I dislike phones but as a reclusive person I may have too much time for surfing these days...
I tend to think that things will go wrong because they have gone wrong. Air pollution, plastic litter pollution in seas, greenhouse effect. Serious pandemics spread from overdense livestocks to overdense human populations - in addition to erosion caused by farming. Why should I think we cannot screw up with information technology? Just my extra effort to give some pessimistic views!
Fortunately most of my friends don't do it, but I do find it frustrating spending time with somebody who is continually checking their mobile in the middle of a conversation. It's very distracting, and well, rather rude.
We, as a species, often brag about our unique level of intelligence, compared to our fellow animals, and you share the reasons I believe our "intelligence" is more often a handicap, and may be the biggest threat to our existence. Our "intelligence" has already proven to be the biggest threat to the other species we share this rock with.
If we had foresight of what we may lose, we may pay attention and appreciate while we can.
Yes, it appears our cleverness has far outpaced our wisdom (I'm speaking collectively here).
Last year while walking along a sidewalk, I caught up to a woman who was walking and texting. As we both reached an intersection at the same time and with her head still down, she started stepping off the sidewalk into the path of a fast moving car. Seeing this, I blocked her path with my arm as the car whipped by. She looked at the arm which had momentarily stopped her, then back to her screen and then continued on across the road as before, oblivious to the fact that her life had almost ended right there..
The whole thing was just a momentary interruption to her texting.
It's strange, that the internet (and cell phones and other things) have brought people in touch who never would have met even 25 years ago, but at the same time it drives us to communicate in person less. I think we are struggling with this still very new technology to find a balance. When I shut down my FB account, I made it a goal to send letters and such instead to a few close friends of long-distance. It's been quite interesting, and very enjoyable. Who doesn't like to get actual mail that is fun to read? I haven't felt the need to go back to FB though I told myself I'd stay off a month. It's been about 6 weeks, and I don't miss it. Anyhow, I find it odd we have so many more chances to communicate, yet we communicate in less meaningful ways. It seems to be a quantity over quality thing, largely, and for me, that approach rarely works. I've found it works better for me to communicate in a more personal way with the people who I'm closest too rather than try to communicate on some standard level with everyone from closest family and friends to those who are mostly strangers.
IT disconnect people from this world. Go for a walk in a forest. Shut down your phone. With a good luck you may see a big gray owl or a bear. That's it
Sadly, we don't all live near forests and enjoy those privileges.... Maybe I'm actually secretly pleased I'm not going to meet a bear any time soon....
Brown bears that we have here are so damn shy. So are wolves, wolverines and lynxes, too. But owls and eagles may make your day. Anyways, reconnect to the world.
I don't use my mobile phone for anything other than its obvious uses.
In fact, I often turn my phone off. I've even been debating whether to get rid of it altogether....
texting is unbelievably useful in my opinion
Ummm will there be a need for stairs in the future ?
Hurrah! Into the bucket of water it goes!
I think they did eventually introduce a new generation of Daleks in Dr. Who which could levitate.
"Levitate! Exterminate!"
Yes, sadly it was rapidly followed by "Gravitate! Gravitate! GRA-Vi-TATE!!" (Sound of machinery impact followed by spectacular explosion...!)
Like the Time Lords, I'm sure the Daleks were time travellers too, so for them there is no future (If you get my drift)