unbibium

unbibium t1_j6ab6f5 wrote

>you can totally do it, there's still plenty of wild lands

No, no there aren't. You didn't invent the "go live in a cave" comeback.

I think I agree with the people who say that technology doesn't make life hard, we've just built a society that does not permit the benefits of technology to actually reduce the burden of "earning a living". We've increased productivity constantly since the microcomputer was invented, we've increased the efficiency of motors and lights, we've designed better ways to do everything. Yet jobs haven't gotten easier or shorter, and the cost of these "climate controlled dwellings" is becoming prohibitive to more working people every month.

If we're lucky, we earn enough at our meaningless job that we have enough time and energy left to volunteer for a job that gives us meaning or purpose. And if the productivity gains of technology weren't all sucked upward...

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unbibium t1_j69r17i wrote

Demand for coal skyrocketed when the steam engine was developed to the point that it could be used commercially.

How much coal did society need before it was used to drive factories and locomotives? Certainly not enough to motivate people to send children into mines seven days a week.

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unbibium t1_iy3wrrd wrote

I actually don't remember any details about it except that Richard Pryor was in it, the supercomputer's plans were on very colorful paper, and the plot point about transferring fractions of a penny was referenced directly in the movie Office Space.

I remember much more about 4 somehow because I actually saw it in theaters. listing everything I remember would take too long, provide no insight for anyone, and result in no clout for me, but yeah it's at least as nonsensical as the other three.

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unbibium t1_iu1vx9q wrote

it's like a meta-drug. it's the thing that makes all the other drugs addictive. And gambling, and sex, and food, and video games...

when I learned that it's not for pleasure, but for repeating behavior, it all made more sense to me.

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