loafingcactus’s review of The Technological Society > Likes and Comments
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I've not read this book, but I'll comment briefly on efficiency. Efficiency is desirable in machines that serve humans but is not the be-all-end-all in humans ourselves. What humans do best is solve open-ended problems in creative ways that transgress the boundaries to which machines are restricted. This kind of problem solving tends to throw us into unanticipated and unanticipatable new territory. Our societies and corporate overlords unwittingly damage themselves by treating citizens and employees as though we are to be efficient machines and not autonomous conscious human beings. So far they've failed to recognize that this imposed dehumanization is detrimental to their own interests.
Interesting. I would argue that corporations have recognized, to some extent, that humans are not mere machines. However, it's a matter of degree. During the life of Karl Marx, people were slaved in factories, and given enough to simply live and reproduce. Today we're doing a wee bit better than that (in westernized countries). Still, it's a constant battle between man and technology. But since man creates technology as part of his being, it's a battle that's not likely to end any time soon.
I had never noticed these two truly terrible comments from eight years lol. Read the book! By the way, this is still one of the most important books I ever read in my life. The mass market paperback in English is unreadable ant type. For an English copy, you need to get it from the library or order a used hardback.
I am currently reading it. Really engaging. I wonder how he would have seen the rise of AI?
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Bob
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May 19, 2012 10:45AM
I've not read this book, but I'll comment briefly on efficiency. Efficiency is desirable in machines that serve humans but is not the be-all-end-all in humans ourselves. What humans do best is solve open-ended problems in creative ways that transgress the boundaries to which machines are restricted. This kind of problem solving tends to throw us into unanticipated and unanticipatable new territory. Our societies and corporate overlords unwittingly damage themselves by treating citizens and employees as though we are to be efficient machines and not autonomous conscious human beings. So far they've failed to recognize that this imposed dehumanization is detrimental to their own interests.
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Interesting. I would argue that corporations have recognized, to some extent, that humans are not mere machines. However, it's a matter of degree. During the life of Karl Marx, people were slaved in factories, and given enough to simply live and reproduce. Today we're doing a wee bit better than that (in westernized countries). Still, it's a constant battle between man and technology. But since man creates technology as part of his being, it's a battle that's not likely to end any time soon.
I had never noticed these two truly terrible comments from eight years lol. Read the book! By the way, this is still one of the most important books I ever read in my life. The mass market paperback in English is unreadable ant type. For an English copy, you need to get it from the library or order a used hardback.
I am currently reading it. Really engaging. I wonder how he would have seen the rise of AI?