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I read a couple of good books recently, and wanted to share them and do some writing to collect my thoughts on a subject that is currently of news-worthy relevance and of particular interest to "Soylentils". Enjoy, and I look forward to the discussion!
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Book(s) Review: "Technopoly" and "You Are Not a Gadget"
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In Tulsa, Oklahoma, it is against the law to open a soda bottle without
the supervision of a licensed engineer.
(Score: 2) by kaszz on Monday May 08 2017, @08:35AM (3 children)
The ability to control fire came to use already 1.9 million years ago. And that has of course not changed anything.. *duck*
Wheels came in to use circa 7100 years ago. Tech and it did affect society, no?
First commercially successful piston steam power at 3.7 kW in 1712. Needs no comment..
So tools and technology has shaped human existence even before humans were a thing. Better deal with it. What has changed though is their control and ownership by corporations. The rate of technological paradigm change also accelerates. The real game changer is perhaps computers since the 1950s. Even if IBM machines were used to find Jews in Germany before that. Another shaping..
Providing data without checking the recipient can be exemplified by CDDB [wikipedia.org]. In short users provided data for free. Then they got charged for it's usage. So pay attention to what you contribute. And don't be a f-cking facebook drone. Abuse them if you have to but don't ever let them get the complete picture. Which is also why BSD and GPL licensing exists.
Another aspect to keep in mind is that information giving and taking doesn't have to be in monetary value. Information can be exchanged without being beholden to the monetary system rules. I think that is one area where the original source gets this internet thing wrong.
An area that may already be observed as shaping is the bay of ships with black flags and "evil" files or where raided machines turn into gibberish for anyone not intended to read the contents. Society tries to rule this but the technical possibilities nullify it quite efficiently. Someone will figure out how to do IRS vs AI, it may be hilarious.
The mechanical Turks union will not come to existence because they can easily be replaced and thus not enough bargaining power. And they can also be replaced in the feature with AI. The catch is that the bar for what constitute a mechanical Turk is constantly becoming higher. Ie the "humans need not to apply".
Turning on a real and full AI have significant likelihood of being the dominant species. The creators of such thing may think they control the AI. But the AI will eventually control everything around it.
(Score: 2) by VLM on Monday May 08 2017, @11:43AM (2 children)
The catch is that the bar for what constitute a mechanical Turk is constantly becoming higher.
My coworkers who were involved in the "drinking while turking" game claim its harder now. I'm not sure if thats the traditional nostalgia for the good old days or marketplace supply/demand dynamics or the marketplace for dumb stuff drying up.
(Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Monday May 08 2017, @12:10PM (1 child)
That reminds me of another set of technologies that changed the world: Brewing, wine fermentation and distilling.
Actually there's a theory that humans didn't start doing agriculture for food. Rather they started agriculture for beer.
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 1) by pnkwarhall on Monday May 08 2017, @04:11PM
>started agriculture for beer
I can believe it!
Lift Yr Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven