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OT: Computer: A Blessing or a Curse?


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If all of mankind were to have/use as many resources as the United States we would need 20 earth globes.
See people, that's why we need to mine the moon. And to do that, we need rockets. Really big ones. And robots. Lots of robots. Lots of robots with lasers. And plasma guns. They can process the ore on the moon and toss it back, and we catch it and build houses, and highways, and skate parks, and distilleries. That's the way the world works.
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Wouldn't mining the moon and bringing ore (and thereby weight) from the moon back to earth over time diminish the moon, thereby causing unusual and possibly dangerous tidal activity. The moon's gravity affects many things you know.Ah, who cares, we'll die from flood anyway. Global warming, poles melting and flooding the earth. So long as it doesn't happen in my lifetime, I'll survive (pun intended). :)

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I think the original saying (at least how it's presented in Marvel's Spider Man) was "With great power..." but I guess technology is power.My point exactly.
Yes, that was the point of my statement - an adaptation of the original authors statement.
...Chuck Norris goes killing. But that is hardly the point. Let's not stray off-topic here. :)...
lmfao - the whole post is off topic - what harm would any other statement be at this point?Dark Chocolate M&Ms - now THAT's a blessing.
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Because the members of "our culture" are affecting these problems, they ought to be held responsible. Therefore, it is not a "human" problem. It is a cultural one. :angry:
EXACTLY- the "members" of our culture are affecting these problems! and u even said it:"they ought to be held responsible". arent the members humans? i rest my case. :)
You say you can't make people do something they want, but you can change their wants, which is practically the same thing
no. i said u cant make them do anytihng, but u can influence them to do it. its totally different.
You speak of culture as if it should be something concrete, when it is in fact very abstract. Culture is, as you say, made up of norms, customs, traditions, folklore and more. Also religion. Culture is the sum of human history, so whether you think so or not, it does affect us and we are influenced by it despite our own "wish" as it were. Read some philosophy by Hans Georg Gadamer on hermeneutics, spesifically what he says about historisity and tradition. In fact, even the language you use to communicate has been influenced by all of the same things, and so your way of expressing yourself is a result of you having been influenced to some degree or another. There's really no escaping that fact, and so you can't say we "choose" to keep up a certain way of life. Change your religion or adapt to another society, you're still influenced. Free will is ultimately an illusion society has indoctrinated you to believe you have. :blink:
thank u. good. all i am saying is that every human belongs to a culture no matter where they are. however, u cannot whole heartedly blame ur culture for all ur choices in life. in the end, it boils down to the fact that we all have a mind of our own. if u grew up in a crime area, u dont have to necessaily follow that path. if u commit a crime, the police doesnt care if ur community was a crime infested place and u were badly influenced. u did the crime, and u must bear the consequences.
I'm sorry, but that's a cop out. We are a violent species. It doesn't come from any supernatural forces, it comes from a very natural force: us. It reminds me of a parable, I think from the Middle East. A scorpion was living in the mountains, and got bored with his surroundings, he wanted to travel. So for days on end he travelled down the mountains, across deserts, across plains, and finally got to a river. He walked up and down it, but couldn't find a way across. Sitting on the bank, he saw a frog. He approached the frog, and asked if he could be carried across the river on the frog's back. The frog said 'No, if I do, you will sting me.' And the scorpion said 'No I won't, if I do we will both die.' So the frog agreed, the scorpion climbed on his back, and off they went. Halfway across, the frog felt a sting in his back. As his muscles stiffen up and he starts to go under, he asks the scorpion why he did it, now that they are both going to die. The scorpion says 'You should have known I would, that's my nature.'
:blink::) very nice illustration. i enjoyed it--> i'll make use of it :) . but oooooops- i dont dig the attachment tho. originally we were not violent people. i still say its sin.
Chuck Norris built a time machine and went back in time to stop the JFK assassination. As Oswald shot, Chuck met all three bullets with his beard, deflecting them. JFK's head exploded out of sheer amazement.
a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo................ oh my word! were u giving a joke? throw it again let me see if i'll catch the second round. :blink: --------------anyway, the root of the thing is: is technology doing/ causing more harm than good? it probably was not intended to do harm, but the reality is that- it keeps harm alive. and come to think about it again, some technology is intended for nothing but harm. nuclear weapons are built specifically to harm. u might argue that it was built to harm the bad people alone.... or to protect the good people, but- it was still make to inflict wound, and 'is' used for such.
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if u commit a crime, the police doesnt care if ur community was a crime infested place and u were badly influenced. u did the crime, and u must bear the consequences.
Well, I don't know about the police, but I know the judicial system or the law cares. Heard of extenuating circumstances? Forgive me for being picky and technical. :)
anyway, the root of the thing is: is technology doing/ causing more harm than good?
If that's what this debate boils down to, you'll hear me give a wholehearted no. Technology goes back to stuff like discovering how to force bonfires ("make" fire) and inventing the wheel. Technology has definetely done more good.And I consider the computer a blessing, so long as the tasks you can manage without it are not forgotten and we become dependant of it, not being able to go back.
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There is more than likely a computer in every home over the world (except maybe certain thrid world countries) if not two or three... Where people are using them several hours of the day... possibly for entertainment or for work, none the less our economy is built up around computers and technology, without it our lives would not be as lavish or enjoyable without it. As for the pollution that all this technology has caused, is rubbish. the human race are doomed to destroy ourselves one way or another. if we didnt develop technology we'd probably just kill each other with sticks and rocks.Computers and technology are A Blessing :)

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the human race are doomed to destroy ourselves one way or another. if we didnt develop technology we'd probably just kill each other with sticks and rocks.
The human race is currently doomed to destroy itself because of the dominant culture, not because of any inherent flaw in human beings. If nobody here can understand that, I'd be happy to recommend some books you can read.
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The human race is currently doomed to destroy itself because of the dominant culture, not because of any inherent flaw in human beings. If nobody here can understand that, I'd be happy to recommend some books you can read.
I would agree to disagree. Yes the world now is governed by power and stature, but take for example 2 young children anywhere in the world, playing with a toy. One takes a toy and gets hit by the other for no reason except, that child wanted it and didnt want to share. They are completly innocent to technology and power and yet it is in our jeans to defend or retaliate, Perhaps during the makings of these countries they had the right enviroment and the grit or even just enough i want to make them what they are.
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Forgive me for being picky and technical. :blink:
:) respect! i love it! :)
... none the less our economy is built up around computers and technology, without it our lives would not be as lavish or enjoyable without it.
i beg to differ. are u saying that only now people have become lavish and has begun to enjoy life? so all those people thousands of years ago were miserable and very unhappy? hmmmmm.... what they did not know did not and could not affect them. they were happy in their own rights. whatever they had back then (even tho it doesnt seem like much to us now) was the world to them. our children (when we get, or when i get-- ok, whatever)-- but our children will be exposed to far greater developments than we have today. and when they look back in history at us- they'll laugh and wonder how we survived. :blink: lol. but even if they mock me 20 yrs from now, today, i am happy. :)
As for the pollution that all this technology has caused, is rubbish. the human race are doomed to destroy ourselves one way or another. if we didnt develop technology we'd probably just kill each other with sticks and rocks.
i support that. WE ARE OUR WORST ENEMIES! it's a shame though. :blink: so hey, be aware of the man sitting/ standing next 2 you!
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anyway, the root of the thing is: is technology doing/ causing more harm than good? it probably was not intended to do harm, but the reality is that- it keeps harm alive. and come to think about it again, some technology is intended for nothing but harm. nuclear weapons are built specifically to harm. u might argue that it was built to harm the bad people alone.... or to protect the good people, but- it was still make to inflict wound, and 'is' used for such.
That's exactly the point I'm trying to make. Technology is not responsible for anything bad. PEOPLE are. Technology does not keep harm alive, people do. Nuclear weapons were originally built by the US specifically to be a deterrent against the Nazis, who were also developing nukes. But having nuclear power and nuclear technology does NOT mean that you have to automatically build a weapon from it. People chose to do it, they made the choice and decided to make a nuclear weapon. It is not the technology's fault, the desire for power and greed that many humans have is responsible for the vast majority of violence that happens in the world, and to those people that would use it, technology is only a means to an end. I mean, if we're talking about 'technology', it includes water purification, electricity, telephonics, sanitation, medicine, written language, mathematics, robotics, fiberoptics, food processing, farming, astronomy, physics, city infrastructure, aerospace, etc etc etc etc. You seem to be focusing on weapons technology exclusively. Technology is anything that someone has ever devloped to make doing a particular task easier or more efficient. You seem to be focusing strictly on things like weapons technology and pollution. Would society be better off without advanced weapons and pollution? Of course! But technology is so much more than that, it's rediculous to think that since the paper industry is dumping waste into whichever river, or some guy gets in an argument with another guy and shoots him, that all technology we have developed has made us worse off. It's rediculous.
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They are completly innocent to technology and power and yet it is in our jeans to defend or retaliate,
/me points out typo :):)
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I mean, if we're talking about 'technology', it includes water purification, electricity, telephonics, sanitation, medicine, written language, mathematics, robotics, fiberoptics, food processing, farming, astronomy, physics, city infrastructure, aerospace, etc etc etc etc. You seem to be focusing on weapons technology exclusively. Technology is anything that someone has ever devloped to make doing a particular task easier or more efficient. You seem to be focusing strictly on things like weapons technology and pollution. Would society be better off without advanced weapons and pollution? Of course! But technology is so much more than that, it's rediculous to think that since the paper industry is dumping waste into whichever river, or some guy gets in an argument with another guy and shoots him, that all technology we have developed has made us worse off. It's rediculous.
TRUE. very true. technology is very broad. i guess we started out by talking about the computer- then somewhere along the road technolohy seeped in.but the computer? hmmm... one powerful tool. powerful in doing good. yet powerful in doing bad.
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How is the computer powerful in doing bad? I'd say the advantages of being able to use computers are far outweighed by the few (in comparison to total computer quantity) who are attacked.

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I agree. Computers are not built for doing good or doing bad. They are built for 'doing'. They compute, they are computers. If someone wants to use that computing power to write a virus, and use social engineering tactics to get people to install it, that's hardly the fault of the computer. Again, it comes back to human nature. Someone sees a potential source of power, and tries to exploit it.

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Computers are not built for doing good or doing bad. They are built for 'doing'.
for doing? lol. :) well, i wont ask you what you are doing with your computer- i might scream! well, right now, this is what i am doing- responding. then in a while i'll be doing something else- try to finish up a project i started a while back.anyway- computers are really cool i think. hey, i'm on it everyday more or less. i use it for both work and play. just that some people's work and play are more in the negative. i guess the only thing one could do is to keep themselves up to date with the latest security updates, viruses and its family and so on. the more u know, the better u'll be able to spot trouble. when u dont know, then u leave urself vulnerable. when a prey knows how the predators looks, from the moment they see them, they flee. but when they dont know, they see them and keep walking and smiling. they might even tell them good morning and shake their hands- and before u know it, they are no more.
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