Is the Next Big Thing In Tech -- Disconnecting From It? (cnbc.com) 112
An anonymous reader quotes CNBC:
It is inevitable that artificial intelligence, machine learning and automation will take over some jobs, internet entrepreneur Arianna Huffington told CNBC in a recent email exchange, but that will place a premium on uniquely human qualities in the future labor market -- creativity, compassion, empathy and complex problem-solving. That's where Huffington sees a pressing problem to solve. She says these human qualities are at risk today and the cause is -- no surprise -- too much technology. Her advice: Reevaluate your relationship with technology before it is too late. "These are the very qualities that are diminished when we're burned out from being always on," Huffington said of human abilities like creativity. "One of the next frontiers in the tech world is technology that helps us disconnect from technology and create time and space to connect not with screens but with other people and with ourselves...."
Huffington, who is an executive producer on the new '90s tech-sector docudrama "Valley of the Boom," said the consumer relationship with technology is one of the most important issues of the modern era, and it is time to reevaluate the seeds that were planted back in the '90s during that first internet boom.... "Even for those of us old enough to remember the first boom and to have lived through it, it's sometimes hard to remember that there was a time before we were all hyperconnected and glued to our screens. And seeing the decisions that were made that led to our current moment makes us realize we can also make decisions about how we use this technology."
To this end Huffington has launched a startup called Thrive Global "to go beyond raising awareness and create something real and tangible that would help individuals, companies and communities improve their well-being and performance and unlock their greatest potential." CNBC reports that Huffington "sees a bright future for a new kind of technology -- the kind that helps individuals disconnect from the damage done by the internet's first generation."
In a related story, Bloomberg reports that the Ashton Kutcher-backed meditation app 'Calm' now has a valuation of $1 billion.
Huffington, who is an executive producer on the new '90s tech-sector docudrama "Valley of the Boom," said the consumer relationship with technology is one of the most important issues of the modern era, and it is time to reevaluate the seeds that were planted back in the '90s during that first internet boom.... "Even for those of us old enough to remember the first boom and to have lived through it, it's sometimes hard to remember that there was a time before we were all hyperconnected and glued to our screens. And seeing the decisions that were made that led to our current moment makes us realize we can also make decisions about how we use this technology."
To this end Huffington has launched a startup called Thrive Global "to go beyond raising awareness and create something real and tangible that would help individuals, companies and communities improve their well-being and performance and unlock their greatest potential." CNBC reports that Huffington "sees a bright future for a new kind of technology -- the kind that helps individuals disconnect from the damage done by the internet's first generation."
In a related story, Bloomberg reports that the Ashton Kutcher-backed meditation app 'Calm' now has a valuation of $1 billion.
Compassion and empathy are easy to simulate (Score:5, Insightful)
Just ask every kid who's addicted to games because they provide him with the positive feedback that the rest of society doesn't.
Re:Compassion and empathy are easy to simulate (Score:4, Insightful)
Just like so-called 'social media'.
Re: Compassion and empathy are easy to simulate (Score:2)
If enough people get acquainted to it, fake becomes the new real.
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You have a social interaction problem with regards to EXTROVERTS only, introverts are happy and content but for s
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You sound very repressed and lonely, I hope your life gets better.
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Your kid ends up going through life with a 'social anxiety disorder' because he can't relate properly to people live-in-person and can only really be comfortable if it's 'interacting' through social media; the brain chemicals are 'real' accordi
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The Simulated Empathy and Compassion just stops you from feeling bad.
The Real Empathy and Compassion will help you feel good.
Empathy and Compassion, the real ones, is earned or given and when received it feels good.
The type from Computers, basically is simulated at to not insult the user, and prevent them from feeling bad.
However I don't feel that Video Games gives Empathy and Compassion, but it gives them empowerment.
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... it gives them empowerment.
I agree, and that sense of empowerment is very persuasive.
The emphasis is on the word, "sense."
The "sense of empowerment" gained from online is similar to the "sense of sex" from masturbation.
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Hooking up a 6 or 12 volt battery to your balls will do nothing except maybe the clamps will pinch.
It's the current that matters. Human body parts have a resistance to current. Put 9 volt battery terminals on your dry skin (balls) and it will be unimpressive.
"Taste," the 9 volt battery and you'll get a pretty good jolt on your tongue. In the former case, the resistance is high and the latter, the wet tomgue's resistance is low. Lower resistance means higher current.
Apps to use fewer apps? (Score:5, Interesting)
Self-care and wellness applications for smartphone devices have been booming. Meditation apps, like Headspace and Calm, have grown into huge successes on app stores by helping consumers manage anxiety and stress.
Instead of using an app, how about turning off your fucking phone? Jesus. We don't tell heroin addicts that they'll feel better with a little more heroin. People need to turn their phones off, or even better, get rid of them completely. Almost nobody NEEDS a smartphone for anything.
Re:Apps to use fewer apps? (Score:4, Insightful)
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Yeah. We were pushed into a corner for decades and now that we made gold in that corner we are called toxic, sexist, xenophobic, alt-right, literally any modern slur to force us out of where we were forced in to.
Pathetic how transparent the dead-weight portion of society is.
Best comment all week! Sorry, modpointless at the moment.
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But most idiots.
Bulk of the actual scorn is reserved for "fratbros": fake geeks chasing a gold rush.
Re: Apps to use fewer apps? (Score:1)
Re:Apps to use fewer apps? (Score:5, Funny)
Instead of using an app, how about turning off your fucking phone? Jesus.
I totally agree.
Sent from my iPhone.
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This article is beyond stupid.
Indeed, it is. It is also a marketing-ploy, pretty much along the lines of curing one addiction with another (and possibly worse) one.
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Indeed.
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Good point, I was just going to comment that anyone taking Huffington and Kucher's advice should see professional help. But, I didn't think about the marketing, and I'm sure our /. friends will likely get a little something for the slashvertisement.
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Nobody NEEDS a TV. Nobody NEEDS books. The real answer is to just worry about individual needs and stay out of other people's business.
I'm a retired IT guy, 73 years old, and I grew up with all this shit.
I just checked my wallet and every thing's there. Looking in the mirror, no one busted me in the nose.
I'm good to go despite technological opportunities to get to know the rabbits by fucking name.
Late to the party, Huffington (Score:3)
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+1
I piffed the phone in the trash about 2 years ago. Not long after I realized the declining problem solving capabilities of those around me.
Go figure.
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But you did not piff the problem, right? Here you are. You're no longer using a phone to get here, but you are using a substitute.
What did you switch to, a tablet? a desktop? a portable?
Obviously, your approach satisfactorily addressed the "problem solving capabilities of those around" you, or you would not be here, right?
Please explain how your change in behaviour affected those around you.
Thanks.
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I used to think that, but I do not anymore. Even though the current tech and Internet infrastructure is not really good, western society is critically dependent on it, which means that any severe problem will be addressed with high intensity. Not the same as having good (secure, reliable) tech, but the next best thing. And when something has so much invested in it and has become so critical, then it is only rational to depend on it and people do.
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They sure like it when th
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Well, some things are not critical, true. But imagine what non-available web or email does to a modern economy if it last more than a day or so.
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Want to get out to hang out with acquaintances? It becomes more than merely inconvenient to not use facebook anymore - it becomes mandatory as imposed by networking effects of culture itself. Just as cars were a convenience at first, but later increasingly became a necessity.
Civilization creates its own addictions and "necessities".
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Good point. I love car analogies. Notice that the dependency on cars did not make us all insane, non-productive zombies.
I'm old enough to recall the encouragement from car manufacturers to go Sunday driving. People got to visit places that were unreachable before there were cars.
Then the parents bought their kid a car. Unbelievable. Nowadays, high school kids have their own freaking parking lot.
Still no sign of mental illness despite addiction to the technology of cars.
Re: Late to the party, Huffington (Score:2)
Then we have the deaths caused di
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I've also been arguing for years that someone needs to come up with a sensible system for managing alerts/notifications. We have all kinds of little notifications that pop up and grab our attention, and there really aren't sufficient ways to say, "Only interrupt what I'm doing with a notification if these sets of circumstances are met. If any of these other circumstances are met, then compile the notifications into a report that I can review when I want to. Everything else, ignore it and don't ever tell
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How, precisely, does people who are, in your assessment, "too reliant on technology" affect your life? How do those extant dependencies intrude on your well being?
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there was some guy in a cabin in the woods who said the same thing, then he started to mail bombs...
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Indeed. Completely insane.
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So here you are at slashvertisement helping them being incompetent at making money.
Appreciate your contribution to slashvertisement revenue stream, bloke.
A problem of cashing in. (Score:4, Insightful)
The problem here is not the technology, the problem here is the companies that make the technology. In short, they have positioned themselves in such a way that the more you use their technology, the more they profit. It's this parasitic relationship that is the issue. As such, some people are beginning to discover that their lives are better without these parasites invading their lives and stealing their time. A desirable outcome would be application that maximize your capabilities without trying to exploit you endlessly for profit. Unfortunately, I don't see this happening in the mainstream until society hits rock bottom and realizes it has an addiction problem which isn't going to happen any time soon because most fools still have Facebook accounts despite being told how it's hurting them.
The EU is fighting for their countries but the US is really doomed for until most of the current generations die off.
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The EU is fighting for their countries but the US is really doomed for until most of the current generations die off.
The difference between privacy concerns re: EU and US is that the home base is in the US.
ALL countries should, in my opinion, establish law that knocks down the insanity of monetizing the internet at the expense of personal privacy.
It will not happen. The whole planet is in the grip of the Capitalist Party.
parasite pendulum eternal treadmill (Score:2)
The parasite pendulum is not new.
11-year-old boy to friend: What happened to your uncle Jack? He's awfully weird.
Friend: Mom won't say, but I once heard Dad whispering something about "too many apps".
And so the deep generational learning continues.
———
I listened to a disappointing podcast this week about the Kibbutz Movement.
It mostly dealt with the
Not disconnecting from it - Managing it (Score:2)
I've been skipping most all social media, blocking most all ads, and relying on my RSS feed for a long time now. Managing tech, information, and the broader internet is where it's at. Fixing the signal to noise ratio issues, blocking the shit, and trying to let a sliver of truth get through all your defenses.
It's not easy, but if you work at it you can get closer to something worthwhile than most.
I'm generally pretty happy with my RSS feed. It's got some decent variety, and it filters out most of the blatan
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I don't use RSS, but I do most of the other things you do.
I did delete Facebook recently. I don't miss it. Social cooling, whereby participants are self-restrained from posting anything more controversial than shared cat videos made the platform boring while still being dangerous.
I know where to go to get real news, for instance. The Facebook bubble is useless as tits on a boar.
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When social media censors and takes full responsibility for every comment and link as the publisher of its users work and links.
all of humanity's dreams are cursed somehow (Score:1)
"Uniquely human" (Score:2)
We were already addicted to screens... (Score:2)
... it was called television. TV existed long before computers. The naive idea people were "more connected" back in the day is quite the bit of bullshit. People have always had a love hate relationship with other people, including their own family.
If we want better relationships that would require whether most human beings are actually capable of genuine relationships. If human history is anything to go by the answer is not really, racism, war, poverty, environmental destruction, stupid politics. Human
Ain't no such thing as 'too much technology' (Score:2)
Because any technology, no matter how primitive, can be misused, regressing to some earlier level of it will not magically cure problems in human culture. I could use a shillelagh to gratuitously go around bullying people - or I could use it to hunt food for my family.
But I'm glad that Ariana Huffington is pushing this. If we could get her to relaunch her failing site in cuneiform pressed into clay tablets, there will be fewer bad ideas being spread.
This again.. (Score:2)
You lost me... (Score:2)
At "Ariana Huffington".
Bitter ex wives who change political affiliation because of messy divorces, then find their new belief is profitable are not reliable sources.
I've assumed this for a long time (Score:2)
For some time, I've assumed there would come some sort of movement, I jokingly call it the "new Amish". It probably won't be religious based, but will involve a rejection of technology from a certain point onward. My assumption would be from the beginning of mass always on two way communication networks, circa 2000 or so when wireless networking began becoming prevalent.
You'd have computers, TV, radio, even digital photography: but no social media, tracking of network use, location tracking, etc. Increased
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Kinda like critics, for movies and otherwise: Some I like, some I don't, a LOT I've decided I'm not going to bother with. We don't think the same or like the sa