Overrelience on tech that makes people complacent - No red squiggly in the title so I spelled everything right.

[Smaug's Smokey Hole]

Obviously if the internet goes down globally we're in a pickle, it's the small things I have been thinking about, the auto-tune of everyday life that smooths over mistakes and shortcomings.

Many people would be completely lost when driving without a GPS and there have been times when someone blindly followed the directions even though they were clearly wrong.

All Sabine Moreau wanted to do was pick up a friend from the train station, which was north of her home in Hainault Erquelinees, Brussels. But when the GPS directions took her south instead of north, the 67-year-old woman didn't question it. She stuck by her GPS when she saw the signs for the German towns of Frankfurt, Aachen, and Cologne. And when the lengthy trip forced her to refuel twice, and pull over to catch a few hours of shut-eye — Moreau didn't question the machine even then. Only when she entered the Croatian capital of Zagreb did she finally realize something was up. Her friend at the train station and her son had also caught on, and her son called the police. When Moreau finally returned home, all she said by way of explanation was, "I admit it's a little weird, but I was distracted."

https://www.cnet.com/news/gps-sends-belgian-woman-to-croatia-810-miles-out-of-her-way/

In 2009, Robert Jones' reliance on his satellite navigation system nearly got the best of him when he was driving in West Yorkshire, England. The "road" began to steepen and narrow, but still he plugged on. "It kept insisting the path was a road," he later explained, "so I just trusted it." Jones only realized how wrong he was when his car bumped up against a thin wire fence just inches from a 100-foot drop. He managed to get out safely, but the car remained balanced on the edge. It took a recovery team nine hours to haul the car away, and Jones was given a court citation for driving without care and attention.

Sorry the Sat-Nav told me to drive up here: BMW left teetering on 100ft cliff edge

A shocked driver is today facing a careless driving charge after his sat-nav left his BMW teetering on the edge of a cliff.

www.dailymail.co.uk

In the past driving for 12 hours following signs then buying a local map at a gas station when getting close worked and it was not a stressful situation.


Spellcheck is another one, sometimes it is incorrect or doesn't work, other times you can just vaguely hammer in the word you're trying to spell and see what suggestions comes up. If that doesn't work let google figure it out and copy-paste it.


It also concerns me when people are asked something and they take out their phone and spends time looking something it up then presents it as they know it, without thinking about it it's just second nature to some, ask the same question less than a week later and they will do the same thing again because they didn't retain anything. They don't have to. I don't have to either because I do the same thing myself with some command-line stuff, I vaguely know what some flags do and I can look in the documentation but I also know the answer is on stackexchange because I copy-pasted it from there the previous ten times.

Modern technology and the internet is a fantastic resource for many things but what have we abandoned along the way because we know technology can deal with it for us. Technology keeps improving as well so what will we lose in the future? Will you allow a robot to suck you off and become less limber as a result?

 

[Ben Garrison]

I dont like social media, its made people think their opinion actually matters.

 

[Aurora]

Humans use the tools they have. Without internet, there would be mild panic for a bit, and then people will adjust as we always do.

 

[Celebrate Nite]

The only thing I'm completely dependent on are GPS' because I'm HORRIBLE with directions. I can't tell you any street names for shit, but I can still tell you how to get somewhere just by a certain landmark or building. I remeber many years ago before GPS' became the norm, my parents had two big-ass (not in thickness but the size of them in general) map books of Long Island... one for Nassau County and another for Suffolk County. My mom mostly used them for Real Estate stuff whenever she needed to show a house and stuff.

I always turn spellcheck/autocorrect/autofill off on my phone. If i misspell a word, oh well, but I'd rather have complete control over what I type rather than having my phone assume what I'm going to type out.

I dont like social media, its made people think their opinion actually matters.

Pretty much this. GOTIS (Girl On The Internet Syndrome) and USI (Unwarranted Self Importance) has rocketed sky high because of social media, and the only cure is to either bully them off of it, or get rid of social media in general.

 

[I Love Beef]

The problem with technology I've learned is that most people see it as a miracle invention where everything will be the land of milk and honey upon its arrival or are not aware of its shortcomings and treat it as if it can do no wrong. I'm probably old but if I can corellate that gears in a machine or its components can tear off your limbs or rip you in two, so can a machine that is based upon mental and technical faculties will be possibly detrimental to you in the same manner if you don't use it or respect it right or use it in a perverse way. And I am going to admit I am one of those users, but hey, I haven't controlled information to try and grift people and attain status. I just contribute to the flow of information.

No, I am not a Luddite or some overly nostalgic fool who thinks we should all go back to the "good old times". But as I've seen, most people drop common sense if something brand new comes and have their anticipation and suspense overwhelm them as if they don't need it anymore. I'll blame society for that.

 

[McGregor]

And now, glaring errors abound, I shall argue the virtue of spellcheck.

I'm one of those odd people whose always been gifted with a vast vocabulary and the ability to read and comprehend at a high level according to a few test done on me back in my school days. I think they got that much right. I also can't print, hand write or spell for shit. It has been suggested I drop the pen and adopt the crayon. I've found spell check invaluable in helping me improve my ability to spell common words I frequently repeat. Public posting like this also helps me in terms of managing other spelling and grammar issues. That's why a lot of my posts here are more anal in terms of spelling and grammar use then you might expect. I admit I still sometimes struggle with 'it's' and 'its'. But spellcheck is often more helpful then not. After all if you wrote a word and didn't think it was misspelled and spellcheck missed it, it's absence would have made that error any more apparent then it's presence did. Was that the right use of 'it's'? I get the argument that in the absence of spellcheck you'd constantly be turning to a dictionary... but would you? Would you be forever in Google search playing dictionary or wouldn't you? Serious works are improved by that sort of meticulous checking, but our casual writing would suffer. And its needless suffering when you consider that you can turn off spellcheck and poke your nose in a dictionary/thesaurus. Don't blame spellcheck for making it difficult for others - maybe even yourself - to continue meticulous works.

Besides if your vocabulary isn't outstripping the spellchecker... seriously; keep it simple stupid. We love you.

 

[Orion Balls]

I retain information by reading, so, when I have to look something up for an older friend, I generally remember it, so that's nice.

Also, the assumption that people no longer know how to read a map irritates me for some reason. GPS doesn't always work in rural areas where network access can get spotty. So folks still carry maps in their gloveboxes.

 

[Smaug's Smokey Hole]

And now, glaring errors abound, I shall argue the virtue of spellcheck.

I'm one of those odd people whose always been gifted with a vast vocabulary and the ability to read and comprehend at a high level according to a few test done on me back in my school days. I think they got that much right. I also can't print, hand write or spell for shit. It has been suggested I drop the pen and adopt the crayon. I've found spell check invaluable in helping me improve my ability to spell common words I frequently repeat. Public posting like this also helps me in terms of managing other spelling and grammar issues. That's why a lot of my posts here are more anal in terms of spelling and grammar use then you might expect. I admit I still sometimes struggle with 'it's' and 'its'. But spellcheck is often more helpful then not. After all if you wrote a word and didn't think it was misspelled and spellcheck missed it, it's absence would have made that error any more apparent then it's presence did. Was that the right use of 'it's'? I get the argument that in the absence of spellcheck you'd constantly be turning to a dictionary... but would you? Would you be forever in Google search playing dictionary or wouldn't you? Serious works are improved by that sort of meticulous checking, but our casual writing would suffer. And its needless suffering when you consider that you can turn off spellcheck and poke your nose in a dictionary/thesaurus. Don't blame spellcheck for making it difficult for others - maybe even yourself - to continue meticulous works.

Besides if your vocabulary isn't outstripping the spellchecker... seriously; keep it simple stupid. We love you.

It's a great thing for dyslectics but I was thinking more along the lines of how spellcheck(and other things) should be, and was, more of a fail-safe similar to what a safety harness is for those working high up, not a 24/7 harness that allows you to pay no attention to where you are walking because it always pulls you out of the street every time you wander into traffic. Until it doesn't.

A lot of people, and their children, lost skills and knowledge from a former way of life when they moved into the growing cities during the industrial revolution, it wasn't the end of the world and this isn't either, but it is a big change that we have been seeing around us and someone doesn't have to be very old to have a memory of the now-and-then and how it compares. The thread wasn't meant to be a crotchety luddite*thread I just find this really fascinating.

*had to consult spellcheck for luddite. My spelling was correct according to google but I doubted myself, there was a red squiggly line under it.

 

[Dutch Courage]

It doesn't make us any smarter or dumber, except among dumb people.

It all boils down to what technology you use or information you consume, and how you use it. If you have a functional brain, it gives you more data to think about. If you are a nitwit, it clogs up your brain and leaves you stupid.

 

[Marco Fucko]

Disliking technology makes you a retarded boomer.

 

[Guts Gets Some]

Disliking technology makes you a retarded boomer.

How many boomers do you know? Because the ones I do spend more time on Facebook than middle school girls.

 

[Marco Fucko]

How many boomers do you know? Because the ones I do spend more time on Facebook than middle school girls.

Just because boomers dwell on facebook doesn't mean they don't hate technology. Have you ever worked as a cashier before? Some of those fuckers still try to use checks for chrissakes.

 

[Smaug's Smokey Hole]

It doesn't make us any smarter or dumber, except among dumb people.

It all boils down to what technology you use or information you consume, and how you use it. If you have a functional brain, it gives you more data to think about. If you are a nitwit, it clogs up your brain and leaves you stupid.

But what do a nation leave behind because they don't have to think about it anymore? Like my industrial revolution example, even if people are flocking to the cities there will be people that still retains knowledge of farming and animal husbandry, those were relatively simple things that starts to become alien to a growing number of the population. The most extreme separation I can think of is a paraphrased quote from a soccer-mom from an article questioning public schools and she said "why do they even teach math anymore? Everyone have a calculator?". Yeah, why learn math when the calculator goes brrrrrrr.

You bring up a good point, I'm going to change the title from "dumber" to "complacent".

 

[Kiwi Lime Pie]

I know someone who took a short day trip. They had no problem following printed directions to their destination because the majority of the drive was freeway. On the way back, they presumably had to just drive the route in reverse, right?

Wrong. They turned on their GPS for the ride back and it directed them off the expressway and through a series of turns that left them in a dead-end behind some factory. They offered no explanation for why they didn't just stay on the expressway where they wouldn't have gotten themselves lost since there was neither an accident nor construction that necessitated an alternate route.

I always turn spellcheck/autocorrect/autofill off on my phone. If i misspell a word, oh well, but I'd rather have complete control over what I type rather than having my phone assume what I'm going to type out.

As helpful as spell check can be, the main drawback is that it doesn't handle jargon, niche-specific terms, and the proper names of fictitious characters very elegantly. And it's also a pain in the butt to try to remove a misspelling that was inadvertently added as a valid word.

Spell check also doesn't help with issues use as using "from" when "form" was the intended word.

I always try to disable auto-fill/auto-complete because it tends to want to store usernames and passwords that I'd rather not keep saved on a device.

 

[Smaug's Smokey Hole]

I know someone who took a short day trip. They had no problem following printed directions to their destination because the majority of the drive was freeway. On the way back, they presumably had to just drive the route in reverse, right?

Wrong. They turned on their GPS for the ride back and it directed them off the expressway and through a series of turns that left them in a dead-end behind some factory. They offered no explanation for why they didn't just stay on the expressway where they wouldn't have gotten themselves lost since there was neither an accident nor construction that necessitated an alternate route.

That's the reliance that I'm thinking about, they don't have to think or plan they just follow the machines directions. And end up in the wrong place.

Again, not luddite complaining, just interested in the change.

 

[TFT-A9]

I usually loathe spellcheck because I've had multiple instances where it did not recognize an ACTUAL word and I'd have to tell it "yes, that IS a word, leave it alone and add it to your dictionary". I also find that a lot of people who should crutch on it a bit just ignore it.

GPS/nav stuff can be handy for areas I'm unfamiliar with, but I don't really travel much anyway.

Social media can die in a car fire.

 

[Otterly]

Phone numbers.

I can still remember all my school friends’s phone numbers. I’m not even sure I can remember my husband’s cell now.

I grew up before widespread tech (when I were a lass., etc) and it’s changed everything. I definitely have lower recall, smaller working memory and more cognitive overload. I dont think it’s a good thing, it’s affected concentration ability. There are pluses, but it’s definitely rewriting our brains.
I often think about images of the self as well - as a kid the only pictures of us were a few in frames and albums. Now my kids see video of themselves and pictures constantly. I wonder what that does?
Anyway, Ted kaczynski had some salient points

 

[Pissmaster]

Phone numbers.

I can still remember all my school friends’s phone numbers. I’m not even sure I can remember my husband’s cell now.

I grew up before widespread tech (when I were a lass., etc) and it’s changed everything. I definitely have lower recall, smaller working memory and more cognitive overload. I dont think it’s a good thing, it’s affected concentration ability. There are pluses, but it’s definitely rewriting our brains.
I often think about images of the self as well - as a kid the only pictures of us were a few in frames and albums. Now my kids see video of themselves and pictures constantly. I wonder what that does?
Anyway, Ted kaczynski had some salient points

Come to think of it, I can rattle off the landline phone number of a kid I met in elementary school who died 10 years ago, but I can't even tell you the first digit of my girlfriend's. I think I've seen it exactly once, when we exchanged numbers.

 

[Glad I couldn't help]

Come to think of it, I can rattle off the landline phone number of a kid I met in elementary school who died 10 years ago, but I can't even tell you the first digit of my girlfriend's. I think I've seen it exactly once, when we exchanged numbers.

Similar story, I can rattle off my childhood home's landline number by heart, but I had to put my cellphone number on the phone lockscreen because I cannot remember it at all.

 

[SnowBall]

Phone numbers.

I can still remember all my school friends’s phone numbers. I’m not even sure I can remember my husband’s cell now.

I grew up before widespread tech (when I were a lass., etc) and it’s changed everything. I definitely have lower recall, smaller working memory and more cognitive overload. I dont think it’s a good thing, it’s affected concentration ability. There are pluses, but it’s definitely rewriting our brains.
I often think about images of the self as well - as a kid the only pictures of us were a few in frames and albums. Now my kids see video of themselves and pictures constantly. I wonder what that does?
Anyway, Ted kaczynski had some salient points

When I was a kid before cellphones my relatives took pictures at every single event and I hated it. And lots of video recordings. I fail to see how doing it today with social media is any different than using cameras and recording videos.

On the topic itself I think it is dumb to complain about social media and technology on a forum where its users scour said social media to mass archive and screenshot others acting like retards.