This is going to get tl;dr, I think.gramarye1971October 19 2009, 01:40:39 UTC
Hm. I hesitate to say that technology can control us only to the extent that we allow it to do so, but the mobile phone does offer a case in point. Does simply having a mobile phone mean that we must answer it whenever it rings, wherever we are or whatever we happen to be doing? For calls on my personal mobile phone, I generally won't answer it during a meal unless I am expecting a call that I know about in advance -- just as I would with a landline phone. I may look at it to see the number of the person who called, but the choice to actually flip it open and take the call is still my decision.
For a phone related to a job, this is where the slippery slope argument comes into play. (I know I've told you the story of the hospice nurse who gave me her pager to watch when she swam laps in the morning; that's one of a very few situations in which being 'on call' has a very literal meaning.) I don't think I'd accept a phone or BlackBerry for a job without having a defined agreement on its use, how and when and where at the least. And even then, there are certain times during which I probably won't answer that phone even if it rings -- unless I'm in charge of nuclear missile testing or working on the Large Hadron Collider or looking after terminally ill patients, I'm not going to answer the phone when I'm going to the bathroom. My full and undivided attention is not going to be on the call, if you take my meaning.
*sigh* Perhaps we should just start making attractive tin-foil hats and selling them on Etsy.
For you, there is no response I'd consider tl;drnesuphynOctober 19 2009, 07:06:55 UTC
I don't consider my friends on call, and I try to be respectful; but one of my pet peeves are people who are almost impossible to contact. We'd definitely feel different about this, but I find that there is a sliding scale where people begin to fall into the category of being selfish.
How do you feel about the idea of RFID tags and their use in society? Do you think its just another form of big brother, the natural progression of technology, or just useless fetishism?
I have a love/hate relationship with lifestyles on or off "the grid". To me "the grid" is civilization. If you want to live off the grid so badly, you should accept the fact that you are refusing civilization and shouldn't feel slighted for receiving less of its benefits.
I don't really understand what you mean by that last sentence. Maybe I just am not understanding what "the grid" is. Who are you purporting to argue against?
Even making the assumption that "the grid"=civilization, it seems logically similar to this statement: "Agriculture is civilization. If you don't live on a farm, you should accept that you are refusing civilization and shouldn't feel slighted for receiving less food."
For a phone related to a job, this is where the slippery slope argument comes into play. (I know I've told you the story of the hospice nurse who gave me her pager to watch when she swam laps in the morning; that's one of a very few situations in which being 'on call' has a very literal meaning.) I don't think I'd accept a phone or BlackBerry for a job without having a defined agreement on its use, how and when and where at the least. And even then, there are certain times during which I probably won't answer that phone even if it rings -- unless I'm in charge of nuclear missile testing or working on the Large Hadron Collider or looking after terminally ill patients, I'm not going to answer the phone when I'm going to the bathroom. My full and undivided attention is not going to be on the call, if you take my meaning.
*sigh* Perhaps we should just start making attractive tin-foil hats and selling them on Etsy.
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How do you feel about the idea of RFID tags and their use in society? Do you think its just another form of big brother, the natural progression of technology, or just useless fetishism?
I have a love/hate relationship with lifestyles on or off "the grid". To me "the grid" is civilization. If you want to live off the grid so badly, you should accept the fact that you are refusing civilization and shouldn't feel slighted for receiving less of its benefits.
Reply
Even making the assumption that "the grid"=civilization, it seems logically similar to this statement:
"Agriculture is civilization. If you don't live on a farm, you should accept that you are refusing civilization and shouldn't feel slighted for receiving less food."
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