Can We Auto-Correct Humanity?

[meekon5]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=dRl8EIhrQjQ

Why poetry is important.

[jgiffin]

Bummer, man: this page is not available.

I'll try again later. Could just be my own little issue.

[Reverend Al]

There does appear to be a problem with the link Meekon5 posted; nothing happens when I click on it.  Let's see if it'll work if I try posting the same link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=dRl8EIhrQjQ

Well, it seems to be working for me.  I find myself in complete agreement with everything the gent in the video said.  Advancements in communication technology in recent years have been incredible--cell phones, the Internet, etc.--but I believe we as a species have dealt with them poorly.  A lot of people (at least here in the U.S.) can now communicate with relatives, friends, and people they've never met, all over the world, but refuse to talk to people who are in the same room?  It's appalling, and most definitely un-dude.

Thank you for posting this Meekon5!  Interesting food for thought.

[Judd Dude]

Thanks for posting this- it should be on television 24/7!
I couldn't agree more with everything he said. I've been referring to facespace and twits'r'us as "antisocial media" for years now. It's quite ironic that the technology designed to bring people closer is fast driving them apart.
When I was working downtown Ann Arbor near UofM I was astounded by the use(obsession) of cellphones by the young people. They walk right into traffic without a care, head cocked down at their screens, like cellphone zombies. They sit in groups, but don't talk, instead texting and posting in whatever stupid social site they're on... It's fast becoming a me me me world...
It's scary to think of the direction society is heading.

[meekon5]

Sorry about the none functioning of the link it's probably to do with the version I first caught was embedded not the direct youtube link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRl8EIhrQjQ

may work better.

[Masked Dude]

Something has to change, whether by choice or by nature. Humans are social animals who cannot survive without interaction. I'm one of the weird ones who will look at a phone but put it away should another person approach me or talk. I'm also the weird one who will put it away and start a conversation. I don't take selfies. I don't post every little thing I do on Facebook or Twitter. I never move while using my phone; I will not walk on a sidewalk nor cross the road unless my phone is in my pocket.

One thing that always bothers me is going out with friends, and one will get on the damn phone. I'm fine with checking into Facebook or Swarm. Go ahead. But that's it. Put the thing away, talk, interact, laugh, cry, hug, something. I generally don't like people, but I make an effort. And I'm the one dealing with constant depression and medical problems, but I still find time for fellow humans.

What the fuck is going on, dudes?

[mrpaddy]

What the fuck is going on, dudes?

Well dude.. We just don't know.

I'm a pretty technologically minded dude. I grew up as part of the original Internet generation, I've seen the rise of social networking and I honestly believe it can be a good thing. But at the moment I'm increasingly seeing the kind of stuff the dude in the video is railing against.

For example, my special lady is currently taking this way too far. We both do a lot of social networking but when I'm with her, I don't really pick up my phone much, I'm more focused on us spending time together. She, on the other hand, will not put the bloody thing down. If we're watching a film, she will now generally spend 75% of the time looking at Facebook and half glancing at the screen. She thinks she can still take in and appreciate the film, but she can't. Everything we watch now she either says she doesn't like or didn't get... I have to keep pointing out that she can hardly make that call since she didn't actually watch most of it.

It's now genuinely getting the point of feeling insulting. After so long you start to think, ok, what is this person saying with this behaviour? That they'd rather talk to anybody else but me. That what their friends are up to is more interesting than what we're doing, right now. I really do wonder if our relationship is going to survive it. It's the behaviour of an addict. She can't recognise the severity of it, she can't stop even after I've told her how it makes me feel, she just cannot have the device out of her hands for more than a few minutes.

Sorry, bit of a rant, but I had to find somewhere to write that where she wouldn't find it.

[meekon5]

We are all slaves.

Slaves to the machines.

Apple and the other mobile phone companies (Nokia, Samsung, etc) artificially created a need and we all bought into it.

We are all now psychologically dependent on technology we have no real need for.

Try remembering some obscure fact without googling it.

At a friends wedding the table I sat at someone banned the use of mobile phones and insisted we actually talk to each other without google etc.

Try it.

[meekon5]

For example, my special lady is currently taking this way too far...

She, on the other hand, will not put the bloody thing down. If we're watching a film, she will now generally spend 75% of the time looking at Facebook and half glancing at the screen...

When I go out with someone I actually tell them they are not allowed to use their phone unless someone is dying.

[Reverend Al]

My first cell phone was forced on me a little over a decade ago, but the circumstances at the time made it a necessity.  I'm now on my third cell phone (the former models having been replaced only when they became unusable, not simply because the newest shiny thing was available), I've successfully managed to avoid the pitfalls and anti-social behavior associated with such devices, and will likely continue to do so for the foreseeable future.  That said, I've had a near-pathological hatred of telephones of any type for as long as I can remember and consider them to be a necessary evil, so that might have something to do with my utter indifference towards them. 

[meekon5]

I had a mobile whilst I was doing a union job at University and needed to be 24-7 contactable.

I then managed about ten years without one until I went to a recruitment agency (about ten years ago) and they refused to register me if I didn't have a mobile.

Unfortunately had one ever since.

My family get annoyed with me because I do things like turn it off, or leave it one room and don't jump to answer it when it rings.

[Reverend Al]

...My family get annoyed with me because I do things like turn it off, or leave it one room and don't jump to answer it when it rings.

Mark it eight.  I turn mine off when I'm recharging the battery at night.  I won't answer it unless it's my wife or one of a select few select friends calling.  I rarely receive text messages, and when I do I give them a quick scan to see whether or not they're important; 999 times out of 1,000 they aren't.  I don't use it to listen to music or play games; in fact, 99% of the apps are wasted on me because I'll never use them.  I've occasionally used the browser to look up a quick answer to a completely useless trivia question or to see what time a particular movie will start at one of the local theaters, but that's about the extent of it.  When I'm sharing time with people I care about, in my mind it doesn't even exist and most of those times I leave it in my truck.  Speaking of which, I ignore it completely when I'm driving and I refuse to use one of those hands-free devices.

My wife, on the other hand, loves her cell phone.  Like me, she turns it off at night when she recharges the battery, but otherwise that damned thing is rarely out of arms reach and some days it seems she's talking to someone or texting from the time she wakes up 'til the time she falls asleep. 

[Red Back Dragon Dude]

Ive never been one for the mobile devices myself , i get a text on it ill get to it later ect ect just went camping with no recption on the thing pure bliss~~ but my stance is rare like meek was saying about his no phones policy i couldent institute that kind of a thing because my friends i could swear would have a brakedown - they get a text/facebook ect and they MUST look at it which drives me bananas sometimes

allso dont have facebook