Brave New World

[birdguy 3,966]

AI and technology and doing EVERYTHING on-line scares.

 

Yesterday I had to remove the safe deposit box contents from my bank branch because it is closing down.  Not actually closing down, just getting rid of human to human contact because more and more people are finding it easier to bank on their iPhones or on-line than go into a physical bank and work directly through a human teller.  I've only gone to the physical bank for safe deposit box business or to deposit checks I get in the mail lately.  But what do the discarded employees do?  Who cares?  They're only humans that cost money.

 

Next, after talking to my granddaughter on the phone I find out the schools in her district are considering shutting down next year and teaching on-line due to lack of teachers.  Besides, it's cheaper.  But K thru 8 schools have a value besides teaching academic subjects.  That's where kids learn to socialize and fight and/or get along with each other.  Of course they can date online, get married online, and have children online (if that is still permissible).  Now we have do it yourself at home colon cancer tests.  Just mail in a smear.  Do it yourself heart monitoring kits that let you read the results on your iPhone.  There's no reason do-it-yourself artificial insemination kits can be ordered on-line so our on-line married couple never ever have to physically come in contact with each other.

 

But in the digital age of AI do we really need humans?  Or as many humans as we have now?  Of course we do.  We need targets for laser guided bombs dropped from drones and GPS guided artillery shells fired from remote controlled tanks.

 

But without people working jobs and getting paid money where will the tax money come from to pay crooked politicians and fight wars?   AH!  There's the rub!

 

Noel

[dave2013 1,161]

I understand exactly how you feel, even though I grew up in the 70s and 80s with video games and computers.  The smartphone stuff is still a bit new to me as it is relatively recent tech.

Unlike some, I don't necessarily see technology as a bad thing.  People embrace it because it makes life easier and more convenient.  It can be used for nefarious and evil purposes, but that goes for a lot of other things as well.

You are exactly right that kids need to interact and socialize, so this idea of online schooling is just silly.

There is an agenda promoted by many powerful and wealthy folks to further isolate human beings, control what information they have access to, and make them dependent.  It is very similar to what cult leaders do to people.

I can't go into the reasons why these folks are doing this as I risk being censored, but you can probably imagine why a group of powerful, wealthy, and megalomaniacal people might want to do this.  Technology makes it easier than ever to control people, especially when they become wholly dependent on that technology.

Dave

[birdguy 3,966]

9 minutes ago, dave2013 said:

to further isolate human beings, control what information they have access to, and make them dependent.

I think that's called a lord-serf society.

Noel

[Swe_Richard 1,175]

41 minutes ago, birdguy said:

I think that's called a lord-serf society.

Noel

Yup. And you know what? Soon there will be people in this thread ringing the bell of how this would be just SO beneficial to us all. A guy going by the name of, for example 'Martin', will tell us all about how being slaves will set us free. Everything from 'self-driving' cars (people might crash you know. Better let the 'AI' handle that) to what-ever. He will cite 'science' to back the garbage up. 

Edited December 29, 2023 by Swe_Richard

[dave2013 1,161]

1 hour ago, birdguy said:

I think that's called a lord-serf society.

Noel

Exactly - a modern day feudal system.

There's more, but, again, I am reluctant to expound on it.

Dave

[Ray Proudfoot 9,074]

2 hours ago, dave2013 said:

There is an agenda promoted by many powerful and wealthy folks to further isolate human beings, control what information they have access to, and make them dependent.  It is very similar to what cult leaders do to people.

Don’t make statements like this without being more specific. But if you do don’t go into politics because the inevitable will happen.

[Luke 783]

5 hours ago, birdguy said:

But what do the discarded employees do?  Who cares?  They're only humans that cost money.

Not too long ago 98 percent of the population were farmers. They could not contemplate a world where only 1 percent were farmers, and yet here we are.

Whenever I dealt with the few remaining steps that require manual intervention in the bank I am reminded of how happy I am to be able to do payments, deposits, investments and transfers from my phone at any hour within seconds.

5 hours ago, birdguy said:

Next, after talking to my granddaughter on the phone I find out the schools in her district are considering shutting down next year and teaching on-line due to lack of teachers.

I suspect that's more to do with our reluctance to pay teachers any semblance of a competitive wage, and the outrage some people express when they get their property tax bill. Good education isn't cheap.

Cheers

[dmwalker 614]

4 minutes ago, Luke said:

I suspect that's more to do with our reluctance to pay teachers any semblance of a competitive wage, and the outrage some people express when they get their property tax bill. Good education isn't cheap.

Also, a quote from a Canadian report, which can probably be applied universally:

"Research shows an unsupportive administration, growing pressure from parents and students and few opportunities for professional development all factor into why teachers everywhere, not only in Quebec, are leaving the profession in droves — many within the first year of starting their career, according to Parks."

[Mike A 352]

25 minutes ago, dave2013 said:

 

2 hours ago, birdguy said:

I think that's called a lord-serf society.

Noel

Exactly - a modern day feudal system.

There's more, but, again, I am reluctant to expound on it.

 

Since the 1990s I’ve been saying the U.S. is heading back to the Gilded Age, full of robber barons w/monopolies & huge gaps between the haves and have nots. In the last 10 years I changed it to we’re past the Gilded Age and heading towards feudalism. Lack of any anti-trust enforcement. Look at the rise of compensation of CEOs in the last 60 years or so:  https://www.epi.org/publication/ceo-pay-in-2020/

And in companies buying houses to rent them out which reduces housing stock, which reduces the opportunity for families to be able to afford their own homes & acquire wealth that can be passed down generations:

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/02/21/how-wall-street-bought-single-family-homes-and-put-them-up-for-rent.html
 

Feudalism, here we come.

[dave2013 1,161]

15 minutes ago, Ray Proudfoot said:

Don’t make statements like this without being more specific. But if you do don’t go into politics because the inevitable will happen.

More specific?  That statement isn't exactly vague IMO.

If I get into details, even without mentioning politics, my post will be removed by a certain moderator and/or the topic will be locked.  This has happened a couple times already, so I don't get into this subject too deeply any more.

Dave

[birdguy 3,966]

25 minutes ago, Luke said:

I suspect that's more to do with our reluctance to pay teachers any semblance of a competitive wage, and the outrage some people express when they get their property tax bill. Good education isn't cheap.

That's right.  But there's more to it.

One of the women I share our old folks home dining room table with had her granddaughter visit for three days over the holidays.  She is an administrator in the Albuquerque School System.  She shared three meals with us and the conversation got to teacher shortage. 

She said low pay was a part of it an equally large part was student discipline especially in high school.  Teachers don't want to have to deal with that.

Noel

[Ray Proudfoot 9,074]

8 minutes ago, dave2013 said:

so I don't get into this subject too deeply any more.

Excellent! Let’s hope other contributors follow your lead.

[birdguy 3,966]

I might add the rising cost of higher education.  What is the return on that investment and debt incurred when at the end you are entering a lower paying profession that the rest of your graduating class is enjoying.

Noel

[dave2013 1,161]

26 minutes ago, Luke said:

I suspect that's more to do with our reluctance to pay teachers any semblance of a competitive wage, and the outrage some people express when they get their property tax bill. Good education isn't cheap.

Sorry, but I must disagree that teachers are generally underpaid.  Teacher salaries average about 50K/year, higher or lower depending on the State.  Mississippi has the lowest at 43K.  You also have to factor in the benefits which, being a govt. job, are invariably quite good.  Lastly, the guaranteed pension for life after 30 or so years is something that 90% of Americans don't get.  Factor those things into the salary and it's pretty darn good.

I worked as a specialist/technician at astronomical observatories for 20 years.  My highest salary was 52K/year, and I had a 401K - no taxpayer funded pension plan.  The education requirements for my position exceeded what is required for a teacher, not to mention the coursework being more difficult.

24 minutes ago, Mike A said:

Feudalism, here we come.

And the people who are supposed to be "public servants" are complicit in all of it.

Dave

[dave2013 1,161]

5 minutes ago, Ray Proudfoot said:

Excellent! Let’s hope other contributors follow your lead.

Then I ask that you please refrain from encouraging me to go into more detail on these subjects.

Thanks.

Dave