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What are the uses of technology?

yenom

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Here I am explorting the uses of technology and its developement. I hope yoiu people can help me out.

These are the current uses of technology I can think of. Please feel free to add more. Don't worry if you might be repeating what i said.

promote populatrion growth
Increase the factors of production
life extension (defying death)
defy the laws of physics
help us commiunicate more efficiently and effectively
changing the properties of matter (like chemistry)
extracting energy from matter and creating artificual forms of energy (like electricityt)
informationize things (like computer and stuiff)
reccord information and give it a tangible form (paper)
organ repairing
increase brain power and intelligence
shorten distance and travelling, help us travel further and faster
ensure steady food supply and water
 

yenom

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No one is interested in the development of technology in the future? I am seriously saddened. I believe the technology revolution will only focus on certain areas. These areas will be the focal point of the development of technology in the future. This has been a trend in the past andwill continue to be a trend in the future.
 

Feops

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The question is.. vague. I could honestly address it by saying "everything". Technology makes an impact on every aspect of life.
 

ptgatsby

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The question is.. vague. I could honestly address it by saying "everything". Technology makes an impact on every aspect of life.

Yup. I tried to think of something to start the thread, but ended up blank. You are asking what will improve with technology... and the answer is, essentially, everything.
 

kiddykat

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Technology is supposed to make life easier right? I'm assuming this is an open-ended question.

How come most times I wash my hands under the 'automatic' faucets, they never seem to work until I have to do some hand tricks to get water running? :doh: :steam:

There are lots of several explanations for pros/cons of technology.

Con- reduces number of jobs- machines replace the need for human labor, and can also affect human interaction/communication through impersonal ways of communication such as text. Verses, when technology wasn't as advanced, there was a stronger sense of community, since people relied on one another to get things done, face-to-face interaction made humans more sociable.

Pro- enhances overall quality of life (medicine, fast ways to communicate- computer, cell phones, lifestyle- we can fly man into space, satellites to pick up debris from Mars). Technology allows for modern research to extend life expectancy, to help run things efficiently.

I think social-psychological aspects to technology are also important when considering how fast-paced it's rapidly advancing. :)
 

Kangirl

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Maybe an easier question would be what *aren't* the uses of technology?

Oh and Viv, that's just you. Faucets work for everyone else but you. Freak!
 

Ardea

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Maybe an easier question would be what *aren't* the uses of technology?

Oh and Viv, that's just you. Faucets work for everyone else but you. Freak!

Given proper imagination, and a little elbow grease (read: drugs), any thing can serve the purpose of... well... anything. Faucets can make you laugh. They can connect you to the universal consciouness... A microwave could perhaps make you see the future. We should not sacrifice our young to them, for this purpose, however.

OMG. I am so drugged. YAY COLD MEDICINE!!!
 

WithoutaFace

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Yes, the question is rather vague. I can only say that I agree with your post. I can however say that are some areas where I would be interested in terms of technological pursuit.

For example:
Technology and how it can be applied to propaganda. We as a society have already invested in this in the form of advertisements via computer, radio, television, and other venues. However the technological component ostensibly does not seem too advanced. Come to think of it, television screens (noted on CRT monitors) actually induce delta waves or beta waves in the brain (someone correct me if I'm wrong, or help make the distinction), making one more susceptible to "brainwashing" and association. Nonetheless, I would be interested in a device that more closely interfaces with the neurological ingredient of the human.

That's all that I can think of at the moment, I'll post additional ideas if they come to mind. I actually found this thread quite interesting; I just thought it could use a little direction. Nice thread, continue discussion please. =)
 

WithoutaFace

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Hey, I just came up with another Idea:

The "informationalizing" that you brought up in your first post actually has already been implemented. This really gets my juices flowing :D

Anyway:
BOINC is a free informational program that I have on my computer. It can be used for many things, however I use it to bolster the efforts of SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence). Rather than having the radio telescopes accumulate all the data from the heavens and do the calculations via their intranet, my computer is one of probably millions that siphon data from their networks and help aid in their calculations. Upon completion of data sets, my computer automatically sends the information back to the source. In a sense this vast network of informational processing nodes prodigiously expedites the maintenance costs (temporally and intellectually) of technological labor. My computer is a dual core, so it already does the work of two CPUs.

There is more:
This interaction between this vast network of nodes forms the greatest supercomputer in the world. I was watching a seminar on youtube regarding the benefits and future of Linux. A peripheral yet integral part of the speech addressed the competition between some of the greatest supercomputers in the world. IBM was one of the majors on the list as well as a few other competitors.

However, what the speaker mentioned that the analysis forgot to overlook was that this BOINC program severely and incomparably outdid all of these supercomputers put together! This is why socialism and technology coalesce so well, and technology will always dominate in this realm when compared to more capitalistic forms of usage.

Other forms of usage:
This program not only applies to SETI, but has also been used for predicting climate patterns and natural disasters, marketing, demographics research, etc. The possible usages are manifold, and there are already a superfluous amount of applications.

Other unintended benefits:
The CPU is stressed when cycled on and off. Also when the CPU usage varies, so does the integrity of the CPU itself. The amount of change in internal heat during variable usage actually shortens the lifespan of the CPU (although this is admittedly negligible). SO, if you keep this program on indefinitely by using the CPU at 100% all the time, you actually lower the thermal heat expansion constant. Therefore you are extending the life of your processing unit. Again, this is negligible, but it is an added bonus.

BTW, I love your thread; It simulates many ideas. Excuse me while I go get some tissue paper. ;)
 

professor goodstain

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Books replaced word of mouth. Books were possibly edited somewhere along the line. Books were replaced by a computer. Computers are edited somewhere along the line (just look at yahoo news).
The shovel remains constent.
 

Kyrielle

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Books replaced word of mouth. Books were possibly edited somewhere along the line. Books were replaced by a computer. Computers are edited somewhere along the line (just look at yahoo news).
The shovel remains constent.

They didn't replace the other, though. If they truly had, books and word of mouth would be obsolete. We still have word of mouth, but it has taken on a different form. This forum is a giant example of word-of-mouth. You are still telling someone about something. Outside of computers much of the networking world relies on word-of-mouth. Advertising explodes when exposed to word-of-mouth. Parents still tell their children stories about their youth and what they've heard. Rumours still exist in plenty. You see? As for books, there are still plenty of book stores, book clubs, books are available digitally so you can carry them with you in a device the size of a trading card. The book hasn't faded away either. It has merely taken on a new form.


What you've said is like saying photography replaced painting. It didn't, it just developed into a new medium. The two coexist and intermingle quite happily now.
 

professor goodstain

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They didn't replace the other, though. If they truly had, books and word of mouth would be obsolete. We still have word of mouth, but it has taken on a different form. This forum is a giant example of word-of-mouth. You are still telling someone about something. Outside of computers much of the networking world relies on word-of-mouth. Advertising explodes when exposed to word-of-mouth. Parents still tell their children stories about their youth and what they've heard. Rumours still exist in plenty. You see? As for books, there are still plenty of book stores, book clubs, books are available digitally so you can carry them with you in a device the size of a trading card. The book hasn't faded away either. It has merely taken on a new form.


What you've said is like saying photography replaced painting. It didn't, it just developed into a new medium. The two coexist and intermingle quite happily now.

You are correct. I should've put (to a minimal extent) in all that. However, What will replace the shovel?
 

kiddykat

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Given proper imagination, and a little elbow grease (read: drugs), any thing can serve the purpose of... well... anything. Faucets can make you laugh. They can connect you to the universal consciouness... A microwave could perhaps make you see the future. We should not sacrifice our young to them, for this purpose, however.

OMG. I am so drugged. YAY COLD MEDICINE!!!
Given the fact that I never touched an ounce of weed or any narcotics (I swear on my dad's grave, I would never disrespect him like that) and I rarely get sick, I don't know whatcha y'all talkin bout! :devil:

KanGirl- great point. I guess we can deduce it down to what would life be like without technology? I always question how life would be like under the conditions of whether or not there is a point of climax, plateau, and/or regression.

rosie.jpg


Maybe later on in the future, they might even create robots that can work as house-maids. I'm in total need of one! :cheers: :smile:
 

527468

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Technology is "fun" with a !

Have you ever had fun before?

I guess that is not a great answer, but it's true.
 

yenom

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Yup. I tried to think of something to start the thread, but ended up blank. You are asking what will improve with technology... and the answer is, essentially, everything.

Everyone thanks for the input.

I do not agree technology can basically expand to everything. There are technologies that have more weight than others in terms of development and our dependence on it. For example, I think the iphone and ipod is just BS, a device innovated to make profit whether than serve the greater benefit of society. (sorry I pod people) It is a product for marketing rather than innovation to improve mankind. So is the current e-book and electronic paper. Some inventions are so powerful it will push us to a new era , while others are merely excessive useless gadgets.

Every technology exist because it has a function in this society.
 

WithoutaFace

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Everyone thanks for the input.

I do not agree technology can basically expand to everything. There are technologies that have more weight than others in terms of development and our dependence on it. For example, I think the iphone and ipod is just BS, a device innovated to make profit whether than serve the greater benefit of society. (sorry I pod people) It is a product for marketing rather than innovation to improve mankind. So is the current e-book and electronic paper. Some inventions are so powerful it will push us to a new era , while others are merely excessive useless gadgets.

Every technology exist because it has a function in this society.

This is true. However, sometimes BS inventions can engender revolutionary inventions by accident. Or at least bring up ideas for good inventions. But you're right, iphones and ipods are pieces of shit.
 

yenom

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This is true. However, sometimes BS inventions can engender revolutionary inventions by accident. Or at least bring up ideas for good inventions. But you're right, iphones and ipods are pieces of shit.

LOL, i entirely agree. The steam engine and paper is much more useful than the ipod.


That is because paper is a storage medium and the steam engine can turn energy into power, while all i can think of with an ipod is to smash it to pieces.
 

ptgatsby

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It is a product for marketing rather than innovation to improve mankind. So is the current e-book and electronic paper. Some inventions are so powerful it will push us to a new era , while others are merely excessive useless gadgets.

If people want it, then it has value, and it was made possible through technology. Technology is more than what comes out of it - it's the microchips in the phone, the LCD screen, the sensor to detect orientation, the cell network...

Are those useless, just because someone builds something you don't like out of them? I play computer games on a computer so far advanced from what was imagined a few decades ago - that's technology, no matter if others approve of my use of it.

Every technology exist because it has a function in this society.

Exactly. Nothing remains untouched by the advancement of technology.
 

Feops

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Well, we can sort of work with that. You're seeking out fields that will explode over the next generation or two that will revolutionize the way we do things? That would be reasonable. Such as cars in the early 20th, computers in the late 20th.

I'm of the opinion that computers, while certainly not perfected, are past the explosion stage. They are fast enough and hold enough information to suit most people's wants. Home users with good connections can basically stream multi-media in realtime, though there's room for improvement still.

I think economic pressures will nudge alternative energies onto the spotlight. It won't happen overnight, but things like electrical, heating, and transportation shortages are not at all well tolerated by the general public, and will hit high-profile places like California increasingly often. Energy management is huge and will reform society to a great degree over time. I don't put much stock into the doomsday scenario of society collapsing - we have all the pieces, we've beat the window of relying on fossil fuelds, we just don't have the motivation, yet. May also trigger an environmental kick by proxy.

Another that I think is coming, though maybe not for some decades or even centuries still, are a few key breakthroughs in genetics. Quality of life could really explode upwards in a short time.
 

yenom

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I don't hate the ipod. I just don't think it is very significant in the technology revbolution.
It seems more like a toy for teenagers than an innovation.
 
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