[ExI] technology

[William Flynn Wallace]

I truly LOVED Connections and wished there were some modern equivalent.  If
there is, please tell me.  It was one of those books I tried to get others
to read.

For us, 'this changes everything' is the web.  Awhile back, it was the
invention of the crossbow that did it for big horses and heavy armor.
Percherons and Clydesdales etc. now just curiosities, but splendid ones.
 bill w

On Thu, Jan 19, 2017 at 3:29 PM, spike <spike66 at att.net> wrote:

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> *From:* extropy-chat [mailto:extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org] *On
> Behalf Of *William Flynn Wallace
> *Sent:* Thursday, January 19, 2017 1:11 PM
> *To:* ExI chat list <extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org>
> *Subject:* [ExI] technology
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> By Robert Heinlein, circa early 40s, from Waldo:
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> "It may be plausibly urged that the shape of a culture - its mores,
> evaluations, family organization, eating habits, living patterns,
> pedagogical methods, institutions, forms of government, and so forth -
> arise from the economic necessities of its technology."
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> I am not sure of what he was including in 'economic necessities', but this
> seems to put tech at the basis of everything, or nearly.
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> bill w
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> This was a recurring meme in the mid 20th century, and is still valid to
> this day.  Some of the most insightful history interpretations are based on
> the notion that technology shapes culture, more than philosophy or religion.
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> Consider Asimov’s historical works: based more on history of technology
> (in most cases technology specific to military applications.)
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> Consider James Burke’s excellent documentary series The Day the Universe
> Changed and later Connections, both about how technological developments
> shaped history.
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> Consider how much our recent political conniptions in the USA were based
> on rapidly-changing communications technology, the email hacking and
> phishing, the rapid uncontrolled spread of information and so forth.
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> Philosophy and religion aren’t steering this ship, technology is doing it.
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> spike
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