<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000">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.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000">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</div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, Jan 19, 2017 at 3:29 PM, spike <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:spike66@att.net" target="_blank">spike66@att.net</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div lang="EN-US" link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72"><div class="m_-515367074427434738WordSection1"><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><u></u> <u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><u></u> <u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">From:</span></b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"> extropy-chat [mailto:<a href="mailto:extropy-chat-bounces@lists.extropy.org" target="_blank">extropy-chat-bounces@<wbr>lists.extropy.org</a>] <b>On Behalf Of </b>William Flynn Wallace<br><b>Sent:</b> Thursday, January 19, 2017 1:11 PM<br><b>To:</b> ExI chat list <<a href="mailto:extropy-chat@lists.extropy.org" target="_blank">extropy-chat@lists.extropy.<wbr>org</a>><br><b>Subject:</b> [ExI] technology<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p><div><div><div class="h5"><div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">By Robert Heinlein, circa early 40s, from Waldo:<u></u><u></u></span></p></div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><u></u> <u></u></span></p></div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">"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."<u></u><u></u></span></p></div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><u></u> <u></u></span></p></div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">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.  <u></u><u></u></span></p></div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><u></u> <u></u></span></p></div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">bill w<u></u><u></u></span></p></div></div></div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><u></u> <u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><u></u> <u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><u></u> <u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">This was a recurring meme in the mid 20^th 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.<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><u></u> <u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">Consider Asimov’s historical works: based more on history of technology (in most cases technology specific to military applications.)<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><u></u> <u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">Consider James Burke’s excellent documentary series The Day the Universe Changed and later Connections, both about how technological developments shaped history.<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><u></u> <u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">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.<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><u></u> <u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">Philosophy and religion aren’t steering this ship, technology is doing it.<span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888"><u></u><u></u></font></span></span></p><span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888"><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><u></u> <u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">spike<u></u><u></u></span></p></font></span></div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><u></u> <u></u></span></p></div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><u></u> <u></u></span></p></div></div></div></div><br>______________________________<wbr>_________________<br>
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