Still thinking about Klosterman...

Just posted this in response to Dan's blog post, but it something I've been thinking about prior to his post prompting me to write it, so I just figured I'd put it here on my own blog as well:

With regards to good and bad technology being inseparable:

I honestly believe that they cannot be separated and that technology, as a whole, is then a detriment to humanity (in the context that, the good comes with the bad... I believe the bad then outweighs the good, or as Postman would say, that the problem is not what we're watching but that we're watching). Yes, there are myriad examples I can think of to illustrate positive effects of technology, but none that I think I wouldn't give up to erase the bad effects.

Some tongue in cheek examples:

Medicine: Yes, it helps us live longer, but technology, like the pollution from factories or the radiation from cell phones also causes cancer. Plus many people believe there are cures and remedies for everything that can be found in nature, and not synthetically in labs, if you know where to look.

Communication: Yes, having a cell phone to call someone in an emergency is always a good thing, but without technology being the source of most emergencies, such as a car accident, how often would you need to call someone for help? If you get mauled by a bear in the woods, well... I guess that's just survival of the fittest.


Keeping in Touch (yes, this is sort of communication as well): Yeah, technology helps us to stay in touch with friends and family members who we would otherwise not be able to speak with often, but at the same time, families didn't fall apart before the creation of facebook, email, or even the telephone. A nice handwritten letter every so often can keep you up-to-date enough with anyone a great distance away, and it would prevent the rapid decline of penmanship in our generation as well. Heck, I'm facebook friends with many relatives that I STILL don't communicate with once a month. I think a letter every now and than would more than suffice. As for being able to be in touch with our immediate families over the phone or via the internet, a complete lack of technology would simply lead to a more tribe-like existence. Clans would stay close. You would be educated locally, work locally, as a part of a community and stay close to the people that mattered to you.

I mean, obviously I'm being somewhat tongue in cheek and everyone can think of circumstances in which technology simply IS beneficial, but I think on the whole, because you can't have the good without the bad, I would rather go without than have it all. The only problem is that I'll only go without if you all will follow me, because while living in the woods and working my own land to survive appeals to me, doing it alone does not. We are social creatures. We can also fulfill our social needs without the aid of technology. You know, face to face.