People who are distrustful of new technology should remember that at one point in history, socks were new technology too. Before the socks were invented, people would just wrap fabric around their feet. Then someone just invented the idea of making this “automatic” foot-wrapper.
And I am sure there were some “old-time” folks who said something like: “My daddy done wrapped his feet with fabric, me gran’-daddy did so too, and my sons and gran’-sons will be doin’ that until the Kingdom Come. We ain’ gonna be using none of these new shenanigans. Socks, I say. What else will they come up with? A combination of a telephone and an internet browser? Not on my watch.”
15 comments:
So your argument is as follows: Socks were at one point a new invention towards which people may have felt distrust, yet they turned out to be an excellent innovation.
Therefore we must conclude that all new inventions towards which people may feel distrust will turn out to be a excellent innovations.
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i like the scots-ebonic accent
No, it means that whoever dislikes new technology just because it’s “modern” and “new” is being foolish. He can just imagine what the technology will look like (if it catches) in future — it will be as commonplace as socks today.
You can dislike stuff just because it's new. For example, I can dislike my roommate's cooking just because it's not what I grew up with.
על טעם וריח אין להתווכח
(Doesn't stop me from eating it. I'll eat any (moderately healthy) free food.)
Well, it’s normal to have neophobia, but it’s irrational and needs to be gotten over. Just like it’s normal to pickled olives. But one day, a boy becomes a man and starts appreciating olives.
On what authority are you making these value judgments?
I am an Admiral of US Fleet.
Logic dictates that disliking something because it’s new is irrational. The initial apprehension is normal, however. It’s an evolutionary mechanism for us to be cautious of new things and not get poisoned, injured or eaten. But after you see others eat something and not get poisoned, it’s normal to try that out yourself too — in small doses at first.
In rats, it’s called social transmission of food preference. A rat goes to a dumpster and eats some food. Then it comes back, and other rats smell its breath. Then, if in a few days, it doesn’t die, the rats know it’s safe to eat that food.
What's wrong with irrational fears? I have an irrational fear of dogs, and I don't plan on losing it.
Having said that, some fears are just not worth an effort of getting over.
And some fears are rational. For instance, my fear of spiders, bedbugs, going insane, not locking a bathroom door properly, and of bad punctuation.
What’s wrong?
a) They cause you pain, displeasure or discomfort. For instance, if TRS and le7 ever get a dog, you’ll be uncomfortable visiting them, which will strain your friendship.
b) You lose possible benefit you could have from dogs. I mean, in your case it’s probably not much, but if you lived in some frontier-type area, where you could really use a dog...
those comments should be in the reversed order.
I doubt trs-le7 will get a dog. I also doubt that I will ever live on the frontier. Hence I believe my irrational fear of dogs is not worth getting over.
Similarly, can find reasons why his or her dislike of new technology is not worth getting over.
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