Friday, April 9, 2021

A Look at the Future: The Aliens Are Us

StarChip as imagined

 Swiftly --

The future is beginning to come into better focus with an article in the latest Astronomy  magazine.  

Researchers are working diligently to solve technical issues with a proposed mini-spacecratf, dubbed StarChip, which will be sent on its way to the nearest star system by blasts of light from an array of lasers here on Earth.  While this is still a proposal, recent very small spacecraft called Sprites have been sent into space and at least one Sprite was able to communicate back to earth.

This goes to show that mere mortals can be consumed by deeds of great evil and darkness,  yet our better nature still triumphs in individuals of brains and braver character.

 


Friday, February 19, 2021

The Danger of Democracy


 Neil Postman, in his book Amusing Ourselves to Death, makes a good statement about the belief of the great figures of the legal profession -- men such as John Marshall, Joseph Story, and Daniel Webster -- who saw a danger in democracy, along with its virtues.  Says Postman:  "They believed that democracy, for all of its obvious virtues, posed the danger of releasing an undisciplined individualism."    

This must be said to be true.  We have but to look around us and contemplate this surfeit of individualism, which among other things, floated a mob of insurgents to a violent attack on our nation's Capitol as recently as last month.  

Our task as citizens is to re-establish some form of reason as a foundation for our Republic.  Certainly, unbridled passions are intolerable, though rigorously disciplined true passion can be a needed accompaniment to intellect.* 


*See the list of Fifteen Opposites, broadside by Eli Siegel.  Definition Press.

Photo;  John Marshall, first Supreme Court Chief Justice 

Tuesday, September 8, 2020

Democracy "Zucked"

Swiftly:

In every country with internet access, platforms have transformed society for the worse.  We are running an uncontrolled evolutionary experiment, and the results so far are terrifying.  

                                                                                           -- Roger McNamee

In his book "Zucked," Roger McNamee tells the tale of democracy under attack.  He says, "In Myanmar, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, and the United States, your life might have been threatened."  He is referring, of course, to killings planned and co-ordinated over the Internet.

But there are more insidious effects, as well.  Democracy itself  is under attack in Turkey, the United States, and to some extent in the United Kingdom, Germany, and certainly in Russia.  There is more to this story than the Internet actors such as Facebook and Google to which McNamee refers, and he is aware of this.  Yet he is also right in describing a vast social experiment.  The Internet, says Roger McNamee needs to be reconstructed from the ground up in order to preserve democracy.   Bold statement, indeed.   Yet true?    

Wednesday, April 8, 2020

Our Shift from Products of Value to Making Buyers Feel Valued

Neil Postman contributed much to the study of popular culture.  Our focus today is the sway of materialism and consumerism on the American society.  Postman wrote a whole book on the increasing power of technology over our lives.  Toward the end of his landmark book, Technopoly, he expounds on the early use made by manufacturers of the relatively new field of advertising.  See what he says about this on page 170 (paperback edition):


What the advertiser needs to know is not what is right about the product but what is wrong about the buyer.  And so the balance of business expenditures shifts from product research to market research, which means orienting business away from making products of value and toward making consumers feel valuable.  The business of business becomes pseudo-therapy;   the consumer, a patient reassured by psychodramas. 

Wednesday, July 3, 2019

Twitter Has Announced a New Policy Regarding Abusive and Harassing Speech

News Quick Connection --

Presidential "Twits" Included 

New Twitter (R) Policy Addresses Hate Speech, Other Abuse


N. B.   I have always felt that a TWITter post should be called a TWIT.   Here's hoping you the reader don't mind a certain sense of humor on this.   

Wednesday, June 5, 2019

Computer Companies Engaging in Addictive Design Methods

[Children] have 10 times the amount of screen time they did in 2011....

According to this article at Vox, designers in the computer and technology fields are working assiduously to create products which encourage repeat, even addictive, behaviors.  Psychologists and other childhood experts are increasingly concerned about this activity on the part of computer professionals.

I very much share the concern.  Read more at the link below. 


Psychologists Concerned About Addictive Behaviors Regarding Technology 

Wednesday, March 27, 2019

The Dangers of the New Cellular Network



Today, finding a clearing in the woods near my house, I asked what it was for.  It's for a new tower, a Motorola tower, said the recycling center attendant.  This reminded me of an article in the newspaper a few weeks ago which I wanted to write about.

The article was in The New York Times of February 21, and dealt with the Chinese Huawei company.  This company, it seems, would like to build a 5G network in the United States.

For those who do not know, 5G is the planned next-generation network of the cell phone system.  This will allow all kinds of devices to be connected to the network.  But whether such a network is truly needed is open to some debate.

In coming days, I plan to write more about the 5G network as it portends a further escalation of our Internet-dominated business life.  What is being lost in the debate is the voice of the average American.  Like so many new technological developments of the past, the average citizen -- not having the scientific background to make his own judgments -- is at a distinct disadvantage to control his own future.

Please stay tuned for more.  

Photo Credit:  TechSavvy. com

Tuesday, February 19, 2019

Scientism vs. Realism



This past week I started reading about scientism, as Neil Postman describes it.   Scientism is in his description a way of trying to apply the science used in the physical and biological sciences to human nature -- to sociology.  He is showing that science applied in this way to human nature and human relations is misplaced, to say the least.

This has implications, you see, for our society in important ways.  For instance, human motion science attempts to increase productivity by controlling human movements.

It makes for fascinating reading -- and useful reading.   

Wednesday, February 6, 2019

Potentially Dangerous New Technologies on the Horizon

Michio Kaku describes technologies on the horizon which could potentially destroy mankind.  Clearly stated.   Highly recommended.




Google Insinuates Itself Deep in Lives

 Coming soon