Is technology making humans more isolated and is it a bad thing? - Alexa is my mom now

[FitBitch]

In Britain it was reported this week that a child's first word was "Alexa". They talked on the radio about this like it was cute but I was immediately saddened by the news and had to assess why.

When my niece was born my sister and brother-in-law competed for her first word saying "ma ma ma" or "da da da" to try and get her to say one or the other first. She's almost two and very vocal now because she's always been interacted with. Does this British child hear his parents talk to Alexa more often than him?
Reading to your child from an early age is proven to be as or more beneficial to development than private education but Alexa can read your kid a bedtime story if you ask.

I just feel like our relationship with technology is rapidly superseding our relationships with other humans.

Do you think this is okay or should we worry?

 

[MarvinTheParanoidAndroid]

I think we should be worried that nobody is worried. It strikes me as strange that nobody thinks progress can be damaging in any way whatsoever. Any concern over technology is slapped down as closed minded Ludditism, no matter how obviously underdeveloped or pointless it might be.

I've always felt cautioned against the idea of self driving cars and the first day one is let loose on the road, it kills somebody. To think I was only concerned about trucking jobs. Now imagine a person bonding with a piece of talking plastic instead of their own parents whom they view as glorified roommates rather than actual family.

"Alexa is my real mom!"

Parental neglect was an issue before, but now shit like Alexa and Cortana act as median facilitators for it. Not to mention the fact that you can just boss these "AI" around, unlike you could a real person. Goodbye social skills, we'll miss you.

 

[Zack the ripper]

bruh that baby's parents are suckers
how do you think autismos like us exist ?
and i can attest to your story about parents being interactive with the baby
but the bigger picture is : its on us see the machines are just machines
i once caught my sister putting hair dryer sounds on her phone so that her baby will shut up
so who is the bitch now ? if parents are gonna be fuckheads machines gonna help em you know ?
as adults i do think that machines help us deduce the human interaction to a minimum but i do believe that this is a good think

 

[skiddlez]

It strikes me as strange that nobody thinks progress can be damaging in any way whatsoever.

This. So many people think that new things or "progress" is absolutely always good, it must be good because it's new. It's a very strange mindset.

One thing I've noticed is just how impossible it is to have conversations with people anymore. Everyone in public is on their phone. EVERYONE. Young people are ludicrously bad at conversation. They can be social butterflies on their shitty social media and whatever dumb phone apps, but it's not real interaction; catch them off guard and ask them out or something and they will look at you like "does not compute this is not supposed to happen outside of Tinder."

I've even left bars some nights frustrated because everyone in the barstools, sitting in a spot that's supposed to be one of the most lively, social, and stranger-friendly, is either on a phone or a literal laptop. Yes, a fucking laptop, browsing Facebook or something while at a bar.

It makes everyone more isolated by giving the illusion that we're more connected than ever. You feel so connected like "oh look I have 1000 friends on Facebook and 5000 Twitter followers I'm so connected and social" but meanwhile you cannot hold a conversation in a public space.

 

[MarvinTheParanoidAndroid]

This. So many people think that new things or "progress" is absolutely always good, it must be good because it's new. It's a very strange mindset.

One thing I've noticed is just how impossible it is to have conversations with people anymore. Everyone in public is on their phone. EVERYONE. Young people are ludicrously bad at conversation. They can be social butterflies on their shitty social media and whatever dumb phone apps, but it's not real interaction; catch them off guard and ask them out or something and they will look at you like "does not compute this is not supposed to happen outside of Tinder."

I've even left bars some nights frustrated because everyone in the barstools, sitting in a spot that's supposed to be one of the most lively, social, and stranger-friendly, is either on a phone or a literal laptop. Yes, a fucking laptop, browsing Facebook or something while at a bar.

It makes everyone more isolated by giving the illusion that we're more connected than ever. You feel so connected like "oh look I have 1000 friends on Facebook and 5000 Twitter followers I'm so connected and social" but meanwhile you cannot hold a conversation in a public space.

Another thing is that nobody goes anywhere to hang out anymore. Nobody hangs out period. The last time I hung out with friends was when I was an early teenager in the late 2000s. Back then, cell phones were to us a glorified walkie talkie with some extra features, complete with all the novelty that entails. Now, cell smart phones are a status symbol that say something about you rather than just a tool to increase communications efficiency.

 

[Tookie]

The Industrial Revolution and its consequences have been a disaster for the human race. They have greatly increased the life-expectancy of those of us who live in “advanced” countries, but they have destabilized society, have made life unfulfilling, have subjected human beings to indignities, have led to widespread psychological suffering (in the Third World to physical suffering as well) and have inflicted severe damage on the natural world. The continued development of technology will worsen the situation. It will certainly subject human beings to greater indignities and inflict greater damage on the natural world, it will probably lead to greater social disruption and psychological suffering, and it may lead to increased physical suffering even in “advanced” countries.

 

[FitBitch]

Another thing is that nobody goes anywhere to hang out anymore. Nobody hangs out period. The last time I hung out with friends was when I was an early teenager in the late 2000s. Back then, cell phones were to us a glorified walkie talkie with some extra features, complete with all the novelty that entails. Now, cell smart phones are a status symbol that say something about you rather than just a tool to increase communications efficiency.

It's gotten to the point that I'm expected to be able to answer my phone because I have it on me, regardless of what I'm doing at the time. I'm heavily considering forgoing a new phone for a home line and answering machine just to get away from the invasiveness of it all.

 

[NOT Sword Fighter Super]

Yes. When was the last time you were out in public and didn't see a bunch of fucking zombies with the faces crammed right into their smartphones?

People can't even figure out how to divide a restaurant bill without a fucking smartphone calculator.

People don't know how to act socially anymore because 90% of their social interaction is online.

It's a sad state of affairs, but what can we do about it?

It's gotten to the point that I'm expected to be able to answer my phone because I have it on me, regardless of what I'm doing at the time. I'm heavily considering forgoing a new phone for a home line and answering machine just to get away from the invasiveness of it all.

I went for about 4 months without a personal cell phone. It pissed everybody around me off, but I fucking loved it. I finally broke down and got a new one, though.

 

[Pozzingmyfilthyneghole]

We need painless suicide booths as a public service. That's the kind of technology we should be focusing on. Quick, painless death.

 

[FitBitch]

I went for about 4 months without a personal cell phone. It pissed everybody around me off, but I fucking loved it. I finally broke down and got a new one, though.

If I give it a try and like it too much I might never go back, but my family always had to accept my eccentricities, they've been demanding for years that I get a facebook.

 

[MarvinTheParanoidAndroid]

If I give it a try and like it too much I might never go back, but my family always had to accept my eccentricities, they've been demanding for years that I get a facebook.

When not having a social media account is considered eccentric.

 

[PantsFreeZone]

Technology has its place but I took a vacation 2 years ago where you had to surrender all of your electronics while we went camping up in Wisconsin.

And just being in nature and focusing on relaxing instead of taking photos or checking on news, sports and loved ones was incredible.

It makes you really realize how much a slave to that stupid lit up rectangle we all are. Now, if I could just quit you, Kiwi Farms and Gab, I would be utterly severed from social media and the cancer it spreads.

 

[NOT Sword Fighter Super]

If I give it a try and like it too much I might never go back, but my family always had to accept my eccentricities, they've been demanding for years that I get a facebook.

I still have my Facebook account, but I shut off all email notifications and don't have it installed on my phone. I haven't checked it in over six months.

Anybody who knows me knows to send me a text message/email if they need to get ahold of me anyway.

Fuck Facebook.

 

[FitBitch]

Technology has its place

Oh no doubt, I'm not loading up a diesel truck to go haul a tiny house into the quiet zone and live off-grid for the rest of my life (yet), but I am increasingly concerned by how much we allow it to do for us and how invasive we allow it to be.

 

[ES 148]

I hang out with my friends a lot. I find social media tends to be something to fill the time between actual interesting stuff rather than a planned activity.

 

[A Useless Fish]

I have no social media accounts, and instead of a smart phone I have a potato that has actual buttons and is strictly used for phone calls and texts. The few friends I have are ones I will physically hang out with, and as such we're all really close. I am the only guy that works in my entire building who doesn't have a smart phone, and is therefore not desperately glued to it all day when I am meant to be working. I never saw the attraction of stuff like facebook, or twitter. I don't give a shit what kind of lunch somebody had, or what their ride to work this morning was like, so why the fuck would anyone care what can of inane, uninspired bulshit I am getting up to?

 

[Kitlen]

https://www.artofmanliness.com/arti...message-manliness-hidden-american-tall-tales/

^Great article, even if you aren't a man.

If you are too pressed for time to read it (or have technological ADHD like most of the 1st world now) it basically says technology puts an end to a way of life we know. For example, John Henry and Paul Bunyan, both were the tallest, mightiest and strongest at nailing in railroad spikes/chopping down trees etc. but along comes technology and replaces them instantly, thus ending a way of life we all know.

If taken to the extreme, I think technology could end the way of living as we know it and have known it for thousands of years. I once heard that with technology human interaction will become rarer and rarer, interpersonal interactions will become awkward, sex will be rare, see millennials having less sex than any generation in past 60 years , and life as we know it will almost become stagnant.

I dunno, call me a sensationalist or whatever but I do think there is something to be said about how technology is invading every aspect of our lives.

 

[ToroidalBoat]

Technology is definitely isolating people.

For example, in the 1990s, American teens would -- at least stereotypically -- go to the mall to hang out. Nowadays because of online shopping, no new malls are being built in the USA, and more existing malls are being closed. American teens prefer -- at least stereotypically -- posting on social media instead.

And that's not even getting into a Terminator scenario.

It's a very strange mindset.

It's another form of the "but it's current year" mindset.

The Industrial Revolution and its consequences have been a disaster for the human race.[...]

Spoiler

The Unabomber could've been seen as a lot more credible had he not gone on that bombing spree.

see millennials having less sex than any generation in past 60 years

Japan could be doing even worse. Technology and modern living seem to be getting very isolating there.

 

[ZeCommissar]

Brave New World here we come!

It does make me feel very uneasy when I see a four year old with a smartphone. When I was like 4 I remember my mom sitting my was down infeont of the old SEGA to play Sonic. Now it didn't raise me, and she limited my time on it so I turned out fine.

But what about kids who are completely immersed in it 24/7? A lady told me her 2 year old grandson can almost navigate a tablet fully. I didn't say anything but it made me uneasy when she said that.

I am very curious how this most recent generation will be like growing up. I'll guess we'll find out in 30 years when we turn old.

 

[Eto]

I would imagine so, as social media has been linked to things like depression, anxiety, and self-esteem issues. Why go out in public when you communicate online, order your grocery online, and other things? There’s simply no incentive to do so. Don’t get me wrong — technology is great when it’s properly used, but it’s a problem when people abuse it just out of convienence.

What concerns me more is how people can have Alexa, or related devices, in their house like a cool nifty gadget. I see it as a potential means of spying on the public, and people will eat it up.