[U184]

Technology has come a long way. In many ways not so long ago the things we do today were considered magical. Example

magic_mirror video conference

The above is just one example and I am sure if you try you could come up with many more.

The problems has been how Technology has been seen from the far past and the tragedy of Galileo and the Church controversy, to recent events with electric voting machines.

However times change and the Technological revolution has came and won over the everyday person. Soon as the populace ages there will be non left alive that remember lacking electricity, not having a car or even not living in a world where man travels and lives in space.

The door has been open and at this point and there is no putting this mess back in Pandora's box.

Technology merely is.

It has been said that even if all future Technology was to be banned that it would take around 500 years just for science to figure out all the things we have already brought into being.

Technology has had profound impacts on the world, Science, Medicine, Information collection and Education, Mathematics, Music, Engineering all of these and virtually every other field has been dramatically changed as well.

Now Politics has been taken over by Technology as well. MoveOn.org Political Action Committee, is an online organization which has 3 million members. Members who vote on and sign a digital ballot for one cause or another.

In 2003 MySpace.com came into life and was followed by Facebook.com and YouTube.com joined up in 2005. In 2 short years the world had became smaller, seemingly overnight the world of politics had changed.

Social networking is cheap, simple to do and its NOW worldwide reach is unprecedented. For the first time politicians have the ability to tap into a fresh demographic of voters which before now was the soul venue of Poli-Sci grads and NPR junkies.

On the internet power is in the hands of everyday people. Rather than pouring money into news adds and commercials slamming their opponents, candidates must now wade out into the masses just to reach someone sitting at home behind a screen, someone like you.

This process is just starting but like the unstoppable tide this techno-political movement will change the face of politics as we know it, just as it has changed the face of all other aspects of human life.

The questions are, can we keep it controlled? Can we insure the integrity of the political process? Will it still be Democratic? In the end, what will Technology do? What are the foreseeable changes in your mind?

[Thunderhawk]

The questions are, can we keep it controlled?

Yes and no.

For Police states, yes.
For non-police states (or police ones that are undermined) no.

Which, Im afraid, will polarize the world even more.

Can we insure the integrity of the political process?

We cant even do that now.

Will it still be Democratic?

It can be, but I suspect it will have its own set of problems in addition to the standard ones.

In the end, what will Technology do? What are the foreseeable changes in your mind?

Populists will still be the norm (with exceptions), but it wont be just based on charisma in person and/or on stage, but also on the technical skills they and their staff have.

Further more, I expect some politicians will have their entire campaigns online, rarely/never having a physical presence. A major advantage as staffers will be able to vet all the material before its released - minimising goofs/insults/fraudian slips. Which, of course, will lead to claims of fraud and misrepresentation but thats the norm for politicians.

A more interesting situation will stem (I suspect) from the medical end, with video-representation/-presence having proponants. It will only be a matter of time before its allowed "for humanitarian reasons". Once that door is open, politicians without medical reasons will attempt to video-attend. From there its not to hard to imagine intire political careers coming up and ending with a person rarely/never attending a secession in person. Then there would be the problematic situations: an e-popular representitive on his death bed video-attending for a divisive/partisan bill, dying in the night, and then his staffers carrying on for a few days to get the bill past.


Im optimistic about what the electronic age can bring, but I look at history and cringe. TV became a low common denominator entertainment (causing many social and individual problems) and the internet, aside from the Business end, is basically rubbish/porn. New tools can make/revolutionize/remake a society, but I fear our society is sufficiently large that our social moment will restrict/bury large advances and force new (small) advances to serve/upgrade the status quo rather then bring about real changes.

[U184]

I fear our society is sufficiently large that our social moment will restrict/bury large advances and force new (small) advances to serve/upgrade the status quo rather then bring about real changes.

The fact that our every day lives is being upgraded shows real change. In the past all new and frontier inventions where kept only for the elites. We have seen an infiltration of technology in every field and at every walk of life.

The advancements are going at an extreme rate. In the pas it took 1000's then 100's of years from one big break through to the next. The technology of computers has brought that ratio from a few years to a few months. Now as the price of Technology drops to the point where it costs more NOT to have it, the big changes will come out.

[MB.]

In the future technological development will inevitably end capitalism.

internet, aside from the Business end, is basically rubbish/porn

Nonsense! The internet contains vast quantities of information readily available for free. Entire archives exist on the internet. Entire libraries of texts.

The internet is the single greatest source of information that has ever existed. Far larger than the Library of Congress or the Library of Alexandria. It is one of the most profoundly important technological developments in human history.

In the pas it took 1000's then 100's of years from one big break through to the next. The technology of computers has brought that ratio from a few years to a few months. Now as the price of Technology drops to the point where it costs more NOT to have it, the big changes will come out.

From a historical perspective, what do you think was of greater significance, the development of a dedicated scientific methodology, or the inventions of technologies that allowed science to flourish? In other words, chicken or egg- technology drives scientific developments, or scientific developments drive technology? Or a combination of both factors acting in tandem?

[U184]

I don not believe they need to compete. They occupy different aspects of humanity. The development of a dedicated Scientific Methodology is based on Mans ability to see the world as it is and was important to the future development of our species in a fundamental psychological manner.

As for inventions of technologies that allowed Science to flourish. Inventions are the way in which humanity expresses its self. Also, they are inevitable continuations from that which has gone before. IMO it isn't so much the chicken and the egg, so much as it is cause and effect.

We have reached a point that Science and technologies will flourish in tandem and separate, as they have began a path of their own making with very predictable outcomes. The question will be, will our Science and technology transcend our humanism and do we want it to.

[Thunderhawk]

Nonsense! The internet contains vast quantities of information readily available for free. Entire archives exist on the internet. Entire libraries of texts.

The internet is the single greatest source of information that has ever existed. Far larger than the Library of Congress or the Library of Alexandria. It is one of the most profoundly important technological developments in human history.

Yes, but do most people access that information, or do they use the net for entertainment?
How much traffic do educational sites get compared to music/porn ?


I agree that it is a great source of information and has great potential. Im an idealist.. in theory. But in practice I see it not living up to potential (Im a pesimist in practice).