84 lines
5.0 KiB
HTML
84 lines
5.0 KiB
HTML
<p>In light of the COVID-19 crisis and the rising trend of digital
|
|
technological solutions to our social confinement efforts, I thought I
|
|
would take the opportunity to go over the issue of what I call
|
|
technological slave mentality. More than once my peers have referred to
|
|
me as the <i>anti-computer computer engineer</i>, because whenever I
|
|
have the choice I always opt for the most primitive solution; I have a
|
|
brick phone, I detest <i>smart devices</i>, I prefer to write using pen
|
|
& paper, I prefer to read paper books, I try to avoid <i>cloud</i>
|
|
services, etc. But this is not so much out of a hatred for computers or
|
|
digital technologies - otherwise why would I be writing this article
|
|
from a computer to a website, or why would I study computer engineering?
|
|
- but rather that I do not want to be a slave to my computer, and
|
|
instead want my computer to be subservient to me.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>The technological slave mentality is such that rather than rightfully
|
|
demanding that technology adapt to our needs, we take the docile option
|
|
of adapting to the technology that we ourselves created. In other words,
|
|
we submit to our creation rather than forcing our creation to submit to
|
|
us. As such, rather than getting done what we want or need to get done,
|
|
we can only get done that which our creation allows us to.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>This mentality is also a barbaric one in nature, as it contradicts
|
|
with the mentality of self-sacrifice of civilization. A civilized man
|
|
sacrifices short-term convenience and pleasure for long-term prosperity,
|
|
looking not for immediate gain but towards the future. As such, the
|
|
civilized man develops technologies, not as a short-term solution to his
|
|
problems, but as a long-term foundation for future generations to build
|
|
upon. The barbarian, however, lives like the animals, driven primarily
|
|
by his instincts and temptations with no ability to sacrifice for a
|
|
greater prosperity in the long-term. As such, the technology he develops
|
|
is solely for short-term convenience, and future generations are left
|
|
with no technological foundation upon which to continue building upon.
|
|
When the barbarian is introduced to a new technology he uses it blindly,
|
|
regardless of whether it is even applicable in his social context, or
|
|
compatible with his culture and heritage. The former leads to
|
|
prosperity, the latter to social disintegration and technological
|
|
enslavement.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>We see examples of this barbaric mentality all too often in our
|
|
modernist society, it's reflected everywhere under the guise of
|
|
progress, or even pretending that it is liberating, when all it really
|
|
does is enslave us to our temptations and short-term desires. Over and
|
|
over again institutions are pressured to "modernize", to "get with the
|
|
programme", "enter the 21st century", "become a part of the
|
|
technological revolution", etc. This is especially the case in
|
|
education, where despite the tried & true methods of teaching that
|
|
have worked for hundreds of years, we now find it necessary to
|
|
<i>update</i> these to adapt to our modern technologies. But nobody asks
|
|
whether or not we truly need such a change in our institutions in the
|
|
first place.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>This mentality is not only visible on a societal level, but also a
|
|
personal level. When it comes to the use of digital technologies, people
|
|
are quick to compromise with their devices, rather than demanding that
|
|
the technology submit to them. Heck, this is something that the Free
|
|
Software Movement has been protesting for years! When someone's
|
|
operating system forces them to reboot the system because it says so,
|
|
the correct is response is to ditch that operating system and publicly
|
|
condemn the organization that implemented such a terrible characteristic
|
|
into their program. But instead people become docile and accept that
|
|
they are not in control of their very own property. And when said
|
|
organization decides to force you to buy their newest products, the
|
|
people who are being used by these technologies will follow like
|
|
lemmings.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>Relating this all back to our current situation with the COVID-19
|
|
crisis, it is evident that the use of digital technologies has become
|
|
absolutely necessary as an extraordinary measure in order to keep
|
|
certain institutions. However, what is problematic is that what should
|
|
only be extraordinary measures, some are considering the possibility of
|
|
making them permanent solutions. Somehow we are finding it prudent to
|
|
replace our stable traditional technological foundation for society with
|
|
a modern digital one that is unstable, experimental, defective, and
|
|
overly complex. Not only this, but when the confinement is finally over,
|
|
the prolonged use of these measures will only further deteriorate the
|
|
social structure of our society, which has been suffering already from
|
|
the promulgation of anti-social behaviour.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>As such, we must make it abundantly clear that the use of these
|
|
extraordinary measures should remain extraordinary, and the moment we
|
|
return to ordinary circumstances, ordinary measures should be
|
|
restored.</p>
|
|
|