#1
DRUXXX requested that I make a post about this subject. Not sure I can cover all the bases, but I am curious as to the rhizzone's opinion about technology, and its inherent threats and possibilities.

Specifically, how do you feel about technology and the sciences that underpin it? Artifact of western capitalism? Product of humanity's development and increased understanding of the physical/material basis of existence? I would like to hear your opinions.

Can technology help us move beyond the power hierarchies and inequalities of modern society? Or is technology just a tool that capitalists/the elite/<insert villain here> use to propagate their ideologies and modes of existence?

Re: Transhumanism -- the human condition has certainly changed a lot in the past 1000 years. A trivial example is networking technology, which allows us to have discussions like this in near real-time despite being geographically separated. What kinds of changes in the human condition do you see technology facilitating in the future, if any? Are these positive or negative? Are they worth the costs?

On a slightly different note, re: "string theory": what do you believe about the nature of the universe? Is physics bullshit? Are you a materialist? Why or why not?

My personal views are that:
- technology as it exists today is a product of the scientific method, rational inquiry, etc. these "enlightenment" values should be distinguished from other "enlightenment" ideas, like individualism, capitalism, etc -- after all, they existed before the renaissance and enlightenment, in muslim civilizations. a good example is the fact that the world "algorithm" comes from al-khwarizmi, whose formulation of the idea in the 9th century CE was responsible for bringing it to the west.
- technology is capable of increasing living standards for everyone. consider for example vaccines, which have reduced the occurrences of various diseases a hundredfold or more (eg polio). this doesn't mean that technology is organized, generated, or used perfectly, but it does mean that it can have beneficial effects.
- of course, it can also have negative effects. technology is responsible for climate change, nuclear weapons, etc. so it's by no means a purely good thing. and it's certainly not fairly distributed: anyone posting on this board is at the privileged end of human society, with access to a computer and the internet.
- i'm a materialist, but i don't think we know everything about the universe.

anyway, i'd like to see how the rhizzone feels about these issues. snide remarks and derision due to the post subject should be directed to DRUXXX, since he instigated this.
#2
underpins are soldered with lead to a motherboard. climate change has everything to do with consensual discord. drugs are an outlet for the quite bored. a split nucleus is a moment of doubt. technology in the hand of the other is only as faithful as the rc.
#3

- i'm a materialist, but i don't think we know everything about the universe.


i'd say the proper materialist view is that we will never know everything about the universe, nor will we have a unified theory without an understanding of unknowable gaps. quantum physics points the way to this, imo

#4
i believe in god.
#5
i'll tell u hwat: if i bet 32 bitcoins and doubled it, it'd be some quantum shit i tellyahwat, mmm-hmmmm.
#6
we've been on the verge of finally understanding the operation of the universe for hundreds of years. we may well be closer now than we were before but we dont know how far away the endpoint is, chances are we've barely scratched the surface, and that it's literally impossible to reach the other side. theoretical physics is interesting as fuck but it shouldnt be anything close to a priority. science should be used to promote greater surpluses and avert environmental catastrophe, when we have socialism then we can carry on dicking about with black holes etc. oh and obviously Science Is A Degenerate Form Of Marxism
#7
it doesnt really make sense to talk about the moral position of technology. a sword functions perfectly well as a plowshare. science on the other hand encodes a whole bunch of ideological assumptions, thats not to say that science is useless but its not infallible either and it needs the guiding hand of philosophy to curb its excesses
#8

deadken posted:
we've been on the verge of finally understanding the operation of the universe for hundreds of years. we may well be closer now than we were before but we dont know how far away the endpoint is, chances are we've barely scratched the surface, and that it's literally impossible to reach the other side. theoretical physics is interesting as fuck but it shouldnt be anything close to a priority. science should be used to promote greater surpluses and avert environmental catastrophe, when we have socialism then we can carry on dicking about with black holes etc. oh and obviously Science Is A Degenerate Form Of Marxism

theoretical physics is tied in with ideology and philosophy to a degree where its just as needed for us to be a 'viable' species. i dont think weapon manufacturing is though, which is the utmost priority at the moment, directing theoretical physics and beyond

#9
its funny because "asshole physics" was a something awful meme which insinuated trolling online could be transfixed to simulations with real world applicability, such as efficient logging, furtrapping, and even complete terrestrial exfoliation.
#10
with enough motherfucking argon the fish doesn't know what the fuck
#11
science and technology own

i hate hippies, neo-luddites, primitivists
#12

gyrofry posted:
with enough motherfucking argon the fish doesn't know what the fuck

dam havnt thought abt that fish in yrs..

#13
as crow preagreed with me i think we have little business looking past the fact that technology is driven by militarization
#14
the question concerning technology is a good springboard provided you don't lose sight of the fact that today it isn't membership in the standing reserve of resources toward which the earth is challenged forth, but rather the ever-expanding spiral of profit
#15

babyfinland posted:
science and technology own

i hate hippies, neo-luddites, primitivists



how does this opinion factor one's own understanding of the machinery and tools they adopt into consideration? i'm starting to wonder if lot's heirloom was worth dodging ritualistic communal purgation. usually the materialist loses weight when attempting to retrieve possessions from burning buildings, if not simply by sweating a whole bunch, then saying "fuck it".

#16
its not idolatry or fetishization, its "by any means necessary"
#17
not unless you say its go time, but of course. i'll assume the statement was so ironic even a seasonably calibrated luddite might be offended if caught offguard by such cheeky issuance.
#18
steel wool is too coarse to spindle with such a delicate antique.
#19

deadken posted:
it doesnt really make sense to talk about the moral position of technology. a sword functions perfectly well as a plowshare. science on the other hand encodes a whole bunch of ideological assumptions, thats not to say that science is useless but its not infallible either and it needs the guiding hand of philosophy to curb its excesses



ya if we had some proper reading of schopenhauer we could have stopped them from tripling the teeming population of this rock in a century with all that food and medicine to prolong the inevitable. nice job science

#20

gallstein posted:

deadken posted:
it doesnt really make sense to talk about the moral position of technology. a sword functions perfectly well as a plowshare. science on the other hand encodes a whole bunch of ideological assumptions, thats not to say that science is useless but its not infallible either and it needs the guiding hand of philosophy to curb its excesses

ya if we had some proper reading of schopenhauer we could have stopped them from tripling the teeming population of this rock in a century with all that food and medicine to prolong the inevitable. nice job science

this but unironically

#21
same
#22
http://www.againstthegrain.org/program/506/id/490008/wed-12-07-11-world-sciences
#23
lol at the concept of knowledge appropriation
#24
i really think that half of leftist academia involves taking x or y thing and attaching enough buzzwords to it until it is evil
#25
only half?
#26
Imo there's not enough institutions determining evil levels nowadays
#27
its much more fun to use leftist jargon to justify obvious evils. fuck the revolution i just wanna say 'deterritorialisation' a whole bunch
#28

deadken posted:
its much more fun to use leftist jargon to justify obvious evils. fuck the revolution i just wanna say 'deterritorialisation' a whole bunch


Whenever you hear leftist jargon you know morality is being inverted.

#29
[account deactivated]
#30
oh and re: singularity & speculative physics:

this was posted by a friend of mine (atheist, libertarian-leaning, but supporter of OWS etc) on facebook a while back:

Singularity Theory May Explain Fermi Paradox


The Drake equation demonstrates that due to the vast scope of our universe, it is highly unlikely that there is not intelligent life other than us.

The Fermi paradox ponders why (considering the results from the Drake equation) we have not yet detected any other intelligent life.

Singularity theory anticipates a point in time where rapid growth in intelligence and replication create a border that is like an asymptote or singularity threshold beyond which lies an undefinable area that is not comparable to what we currently know as intelligence.

The Schwarzchild radius describes the limit of the ability of light to escape a black hole singularity, or the “edge” of the black hole where it becomes totally black.

The answer to the Fermi paradox may lie in the idea of a singularity-like expansion in intelligence that rapidly moves beyond our ability to understand it or detect it. Just as light eventually becomes trapped by distorted space inside the Schwarzchild radius of a black hole under gravitational collapse, it is possible that intelligence that is evolving hyperbolically may move across “terrain” that is unknown or become something we are unable to recognize.

An ant might be able to detect a microscope that is being used by a higher intelligence to study it, but would not have the capacity to understand much significance of the event. An amoeba would not even be able to “detect” the microscope. As the “distance” between intelligence levels grows, the ability to communicate is limited to a lowest common denominator level.

Try on this postulate: the Drake equation shows there is likely to be a very high possibility of other intelligent life in our universe, even though it is also likely to be separated by huge gulfs in space and also (more significantly) in time. This makes it highly unlikely that two intelligent civilizations would evolve at the same rate in near proximity to each other and have a reasonable chance to communicate with each other on similar levels. Our civilization seems to be very close to a massive transition in intelligence that we call, “the singularity” and this has taken place in a relatively small time frame, only tens of thousands of years at the most, since the beginning of what we consider to be the history of our civilization. If other intelligent civilizations also experience growth curves that anywhere near this (even allowing for large variations in rate), and experience a singularity-like transition event, the likelihood of two civilizations establishing communications during this time becomes very small. This leaves us with a universe populated by many intelligent civilizations, but always finding themselves alone, only able to communicate with amoebas below them on the developmental scale and something undefinable above them.

It is worth noting that human history is full of examples of attempts to describe interactions with “undefinable” higher intelligence. And, once we get past the singularity horizon, everything changes.



and this was posted by a different friend (more of a new agey creative type) also on facebook slightly less of a while back:

(edit: i can't tell if the embed is working. heres the link)

when i first skimmed the article, i didn't register the parts i've italicized here, and so when the youtube was posted it seemed to me to be slightly more outlandish than the article with its claims of visitation. but obviously the article is actually endorsing the same or maybe even a slightly stronger view, not just that of visitation and hidden messages in art and architecture but one where the "rationalist"-"skeptic" "atheist" technofetishist finds reassurance in the revealed secret that all the worlds religions have actually been talking about singularity aliens

Edited by mistersix ()

#31
in other words: zizek