RE: The downside of automotive technology
January 15, 2019 at 7:17 am
(This post was last modified: January 15, 2019 at 8:27 am by Homeless Nutter.)
(January 15, 2019 at 1:29 am)onlinebiker Wrote: Progress???
Becoming reliant on gadgetry isn't progress.
Yes, it is. Cars are "gadgetry". Electricity is "gadgetry". Hypodermics, X-ray machines and life-support systems are "gadgetry". Flushable toilets are "gadgetry". Glasses, false teeth and hearing aids are "gadgetry"... All of that is progress and most of our lives depend on it.
(January 15, 2019 at 1:29 am)onlinebiker Wrote: Just look at a pocket calculator.
A handy tool. But - today' s kid can't convert fractions to decimal, and probably can't tell you what the square root of 144 is without a calculator.
Why?
He relies on the gadget to do as job he should know how to do.
Right. Look at a book. A handy tool, but today's kid can't even memorize the entire "Iliad", because the lazy f*cker can just read it anytime he/she pleases....
And let's face it - most kids couldn't tell you what square root of 144 was even before calculators, because kids are stupid. And I'll bet dollars to donuts, that most adults - especially in the US - don't know what a square root is, or how to find it on a calculator...
(January 15, 2019 at 1:29 am)onlinebiker Wrote: You want compliant unskilled drones.
I want thinking people that can DO things.
Like drive.
I hate to break it to you, but I don't think all that many people are terribly concerned about what you want. Mind your own business and your own abilities. I can guarantee you, that you're missing many skills, that many people find indispensable, or would have in the not-very-distant past. Can you drive stick? Can you reliably navigate without a compass? How many languages do you speak? How many musical instruments do you play? Can you ride horses? How well can you hunt with a rock tied to a stick? I'm sure technology is all fine and dandy, when you use it to cover up your own "shortcomings".
(January 15, 2019 at 1:29 am)onlinebiker Wrote: Edit to add ----
I don't think the tech is bad --- you just made that assumption.
You failed to answer the heart of the question --- what happens as the system ages and quits functioning???? ( guaranteed, it will)
In an ideal world - the system would self test ---- and at ANY hint of an inoperative condition - the vehicle would shut down - and remain inoperative until the fault was corrected.
Unfortunately - today's consumer ( and probably tomorrow's) won't go along with that.
We know what happens now - when an ABS system fails --- they tape over the warning light and keep driving...
And even in the worst scenario - it will still cause fewer accidents, than drugged up apes behind the wheel. There's nothing inherently human about driving. We got rid of horses, we can get rid of all other animals involved in transportation, if that gives us better results - even if some people's sense of self-worth will suffer.
"The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one." - George Bernard Shaw
