[whazzmaster]

Most of them grudgingly bought smartphones within the last year and now wouldn't give them up. I yell at them about it but they do fail as often as they succeed. On the other hand, one of them is doing a home birth... so there is that, I guess.

[wes-exp]

Actually there are some compelling arguments for home birth aided by a midwife. There is a documentary about it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Business_of_Being_Born

I think it's interesting that we've mitigated naturally occurring risks (such as disease) to such an extent that technology itself now poses risks of often similar magnitudes. Take preservatives: on the one hand keeping food fresh prevents various ills, but on the other hand continually ingesting chemical preservatives can cause disease itself such as cancer. The pushback against vaccines is kind of a manifestation of this... or perhaps the perception of risk as I think the science doesn't bear out the fears in this particular case. But in general, the idea that technology is always better seems to be increasingly challenged; often with a legitimate scientific basis.