Gideon Stargrave
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Nov 10, 2006
- Messages
- 3,395
Great. Just what we need. More members who support ethnic cleansing. Beautiful.
oooh, look at me! I'm TwilightEL! I read books! I think I'm so smart! La Di Daa!
I've Been Thinking A Bit Lately...
- Thread starter Grocer Man
- Start date
Great. Just what we need. More members who support ethnic cleansing. Beautiful.
oooh, look at me! I'm TwilightEL! I read books! I think I'm so smart! La Di Daa!
i'm with you Planet-man
Random
Didn't **** any of those *****es
Why dont I have my god damn flying car yet?
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beacuse you don't own an off road vehicle :lol:
Random
Didn't **** any of those *****es
Okay rephrazing that, I want my ****ing hoover car already
Planet-man
Well-Known Member
Does that clean the road as it drives?
Random
Didn't **** any of those *****es
.... A CAR THAT, UNDER ITS OWN POWER, CAN DEFY GRAVITY
Planet-man
Well-Known Member
Oh, so like... some kinda magic car?
Seldes Katne
Site mom
While I agree that "certain people" would be more inclined to leave Earth, I don't think "certain" will be defined by race, gender, or creed. I think it more likely that certain personality factors will determine who goes. The people who go will be explorers, or pioneers; they'll need the same kind of personalities and convictions that explorers and pioneers have had over the centuries here on Earth -- the need to see what's "out there", or the willingness to face the unknown and to deal with various hardships and setbacks. That's not something that's confined to one race or gender.
Of course she's smart! Reading books is frequently a sign of intelligence. I highly recommend the practice.
ourchair
Well-Known Member
Unless they have to read them out loud to understand the words.Of course she's smart! Reading books is frequently a sign of intelligence. I highly recommend the practice.
Seldes Katne
Site mom
Better reading aloud than suffering in silent ignorance.
Speaking of which.... How will the advent of high tech personal devices like cellular phones affect our education system and practices? I remember reading a short story many years ago about a girl who "attended school" by logging onto her personal computer. She never set foot in a classroom. (Neither did anyone else in her society.) This story was written back in the 50s or 60s, when personal computers were pretty much unheard of. Now PCs are everywhere....
Speaking of which.... How will the advent of high tech personal devices like cellular phones affect our education system and practices? I remember reading a short story many years ago about a girl who "attended school" by logging onto her personal computer. She never set foot in a classroom. (Neither did anyone else in her society.) This story was written back in the 50s or 60s, when personal computers were pretty much unheard of. Now PCs are everywhere....
ourchair
Well-Known Member
I could probably write volumes and volumes about this --- but I'm on my way to watch Spider-Man 3 --- but the short of it is that I'm just inherently distrustful of any attempts to use microcomputing technology to replace traditional learning.
But if you're really interested, Seldes, I recommend you read the book High-Tech Heretic by Clifford Stoll, an Internet-savvy astronomer who frequently cautions against overly utopian views of computing and the Internet. High-Tech Heretic focuses on education, though some of its points are repeated from Stoll's earlier book, Silicon Snake Oil.
I first learned of Stoll back in the late 90s, when he was the resident 'cautionary humanist' who would appear at the end of every episode of MSNBC's The Site, with musings about the human-cultural implications of 'the Internet revolution'. Ten nerd-points to people who can remember the name of the CGI co-host of that show.
Planet-man
Well-Known Member
Everybody... by which I mean UC Members, teachers, students, parents, kids, everybody... needs to read the Ray Bradbury short story "The Veldt". I'll see if I can find it. It made me seriously reevaulate my philosophies on technology and how it "improves" out lives.
I'll see if I can find it online(yeah, yeah, irony, I know).
EDIT: Found it! You'll need to set the text size to "largest" to read it, though. Here it is: http://www.veddma.com/veddma/Veldt.htm
I'll see if I can find it online(yeah, yeah, irony, I know).
EDIT: Found it! You'll need to set the text size to "largest" to read it, though. Here it is: http://www.veddma.com/veddma/Veldt.htm
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Seldes Katne
Site mom
Ironic, but understandable. I remember this story from several print anthololgies. Planet-man's right, everyone should read this. It's short enough to only take a few minutes. I don't think we're that far away from virtual reality becoming, well, reality. And I can totally see the technology being abused as shown in the story.
I remember the original Star Trek series, and the communicators everyone carried. I think a lot of people could stand to watch a few of those episodes in order to learn how to use a cell phone correctly. Communicators were used as plot devices to get important information quickly and efficiently to people. The messages were short and to the point. Notice that at no time did Captain Kirk pick up the communicator to call up Spock just to shoot the breeze. And nobody yelled into a communicator unless the planet was blowing up or something. You know, a genuine emergency.
I checked the computer (the irony continues
) and our library system has a copy of this in a neighboring town, so I'll swing over and pick it up this evening, along with another book I'm getting. Thanks, Ourchair.And thank you, Grocer Man, for starting this discussion.
Ultimate Houde
UC's Resident Genetic Recombinator
That story represents a common theme in science fiction stories, where our inventions will eventually replace ourselves.
Dr.Strangefate
He Sees You When You're Sleeping. He Knows When Yo
There's a BRILLIANT webcomic on similar themes:
Nine Planets Without Intelligent Life
Its about two robots who explore the cosmos and the human condition... It also has a touch of philosophical discussion that makes it that much more interesting. It's also funny and amusing. Check it out.
Nine Planets Without Intelligent Life
Its about two robots who explore the cosmos and the human condition... It also has a touch of philosophical discussion that makes it that much more interesting. It's also funny and amusing. Check it out.
