[paulolc]

No it's not. People are great. The problem is that we are not OK. When can't help ourselves, much less others. A lot of us are sick and don't have help. We are silently succumbing to the suffering of an increasingly dehumanizing environment. Machines should be beside us, to help. Not between us and stop us from fully interact with each other.

[fargle]

> The problem is that we are not OK. When can't help ourselves, much less others. A lot of us are sick and don't have help. We are silently succumbing to the suffering of an increasingly dehumanizing environment

ok, maybe? i don't think that's unanimously true

> Machines should be beside us, to help. Not between us and stop us from fully interact with each other.

and who puts them there and uses them as such?

who comes up with things like DRM'd juice packets?

people anthropomorphize machines:

    "the car rolled over and crushed..." or "the train doors closed in his face"

No.

    "the reckless driver rolled his car..."
    "the uncaring conductor closed the doors in his face"
    "the bureaucratic corporation and engineers designed the train leaving no way to override the doors by the operator"

not as romantic, but closer to the truth.

machines, computers included, are simply powerful levers. they amplify forces applied - good or evil or dehumanizing - by their users. nothing more.

not all people are good, and when those people use powerful machines to amplify their intentions, it can have enormous negative effects.

[paulolc]

> ok, maybe? i don't think that's unanimously true

I get your point. Some people seem to be thriving. Yes, but those don't suck. The ones that are thriving and do suck are, in the end, succumbing to the increasingly dehumanizing environment.

> and who puts them there and uses them as such? > who comes up with things like DRM'd juice packets?

We do. People do. Yes. Those people suck. They are not ok and are clearly succumbing to the increasingly dehumanizing environment.

> people anthropomorphize machines:

Oh yes they do. Excelent point! In the end, it's all people. I totally agree. We cannot let responsibility die as an orphan. Those people suck, but ... well, you know, they "suckumb" ;).

> machines, computers included, are simply powerful levers. they amplify forces applied - good or evil or dehumanizing - by their users. nothing more. > not all people are good, and when those people use powerful machines to amplify their intentions, it can have enormous negative effects.

Yes. Without any doubt. We need to counteract that. Let's work together. We can!

"It is inevitable that we face problems, but no particular problem is inevitable." - David Deutsch - The Beginning of the Infinity.

[salawat]

>People are great. The problem is that we are not OK.

Come again? Seems like the latter disproves the former. After all, if people are so great, why would they build a machine that proliferates suffering?

What kind of man builds a machine to kill a girl? A smart one.

"Smart" does not imply good, nor virtuous. Merely capable.