Will you accept a microchip implant as a payment method?

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style...08486.html


Revelation 13: 16-18

16And the second beast required all people small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, 17so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark—the name of the beast or the number of its name.

18Here is a call for wisdom: Let the one who has insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and that number is 666.


Just sayin'

Related to your post above, Brian, I don't like all this technology and the way it's going, at all. I never wanted a mobile phone (although of course I have one now) and I only became ofay (to a limited degree) with computers relatively late in life (when I was in my early forties). We didn't have any of this stuff at school and college.  

Everything is so incredibly complicated and we are so dependent on "systems" that can easily fail (?) or be made to fail, containing all our important information. The I phone whilst being a remarkably useful piece of technology is also (I believe) turning out to be a damaging instrument. The young seem to totally addicted to them, young women have one permanently pointed at themselves, even walking down the street and young men seem to spend hours flicking the screen for the next buzz. 

Cars are so complicated now, you don't try to flip the bonnet anymore to get it going, there's no point, you won't be able to. Just my opinion, others will certainly disagree.

Related to your post above, Brian, I don't like all this technology and the way it's going, at all. I never wanted a mobile phone (although of course I have one now) and I only became ofay (to a limited degree) with computers relatively late in life (when I was in my early forties). We didn't have any of this stuff at school and college.  

Everything is so incredibly complicated and we are so dependent on "systems" that can easily fail (?) or be made to fail, containing all our important information. The I phone whilst being a remarkably useful piece of technology is also (I believe) turning out to be a damaging instrument. The young seem to totally addicted to them, young women have one permanently pointed at themselves, even walking down the street and young men seem to spend hours flicking the screen for the next buzz. 

Cars are so complicated now, you don't try to flip the bonnet anymore to get it going, there's no point, you won't be able to. Just my opinion, others will certainly disagree.

I think you run the risk of being the old man bemoaning how much better life was when you had to walk both ways to school (each way being up hill) when discussing the Model T.

I'm not sure everything about technology is good, but my goodness a lot of it is.  Information is so much more accessible, even with the plight of potential misinformation.  The ability to stay in touch with people at distances is insane.  Finally, there's really nothing to be done about it.  We are race of technologists and have been for some time.  Hard to see that stopping.

Related to your post above, Brian, I don't like all this technology and the way it's going, at all. I never wanted a mobile phone (although of course I have one now) and I only became ofay (to a limited degree) with computers relatively late in life (when I was in my early forties). We didn't have any of this stuff at school and college.  

Everything is so incredibly complicated and we are so dependent on "systems" that can easily fail (?) or be made to fail, containing all our important information. The I phone whilst being a remarkably useful piece of technology is also (I believe) turning out to be a damaging instrument. The young seem to totally addicted to them, young women have one permanently pointed at themselves, even walking down the street and young men seem to spend hours flicking the screen for the next buzz. 

Cars are so complicated now, you don't try to flip the bonnet anymore to get it going, there's no point, you won't be able to. Just my opinion, others will certainly disagree.

I think the world generally has become far too reliant on man's inventions and not all of them are even vaguely important.  I always used to think it weird that people wanted remote controls for televisions that are only two steps across the livingroom.  I also think it's crazy that so many people seem to live almost entirely in smartphone world and don't get to see what is happening around them.  Here in Sweden, you need either a smartphone or a computer just to claim benefits and look for work.  From either a Christian or a human point of view, there is no way I am accepting an implant.  If nobody takes cash or card, I'll busk directly for food and sleep wherever I can find shelter. 

(Disclaimer:  I haven't said that this is definitely the mark of the beast but my eyes and mind are open.)

I think you run the risk of being the old man bemoaning how much better life was when you had to walk both ways to school (each way being up hill) when discussing the Model T.

I'm not sure everything about technology is good, but my goodness a lot of it is.  Information is so much more accessible, even with the plight of potential misinformation.  The ability to stay in touch with people at distances is insane.  Finally, there's really nothing to be done about it.  We are race of technologists and have been for some time.  Hard to see that stopping.

That may be the case, Silence and I can live with being labelled like that, but in my defence, surely my opinion is at least valid for me, no ? I don't live in your head. You may welcome the whole caboodle but I don't. I see problems lurking on the horizon but I don't want to go into detail about that. 

"Mark my words, we're doomed !" (Be quiet, Frazer !)

That may be the case, Silence and I can live with being labelled like that, but in my defence, surely my opinion is at least valid for me, no ? I don't live in your head. You may welcome the whole caboodle but I don't. I see problems lurking on the horizon but I don't want to go into detail about that. 

"Mark my words, we're doomed !" (Be quiet, Frazer !)

I wasn't attempting to be pejorative at all.  (Hence the "wink" emoji)

I'm not sure how all this turns out either, but I am constantly reminding myself that every generation of older folk tend to see change in tech as a bad thing.  Hell, we were being told in the 70's that television would be the end of athletics as kids just sat on their butts.

There's also a ton of evidence supporting the notion that today is the best day to be born in history.  Infant mortality at all time lows across the globe.  Life expectancy longer now than at any time in history.  Etc etc.

I do think this digital age we're evolving through has pitfalls but are they really any more stark than what we've faced over the arch of our existence?  I certainly don't know.

Related to your post above, Brian, I don't like all this technology and the way it's going, at all. I never wanted a mobile phone (although of course I have one now) and I only became ofay (to a limited degree) with computers relatively late in life (when I was in my early forties). We didn't have any of this stuff at school and college.  

Everything is so incredibly complicated and we are so dependent on "systems" that can easily fail (?) or be made to fail, containing all our important information. The I phone whilst being a remarkably useful piece of technology is also (I believe) turning out to be a damaging instrument. The young seem to totally addicted to them, young women have one permanently pointed at themselves, even walking down the street and young men seem to spend hours flicking the screen for the next buzz. 

Cars are so complicated now, you don't try to flip the bonnet anymore to get it going, there's no point, you won't be able to. Just my opinion, others will certainly disagree.

I'm of the same old generation, having worked as a computer/software specialist on some of the early second and third generations of digital aircraft control and navigation systems (systems totally antiquated today, fit only for a museum, using for instance main computers with a miniscule 32K of 24-bit words in their onboard memory and instruction execution time of maybe 1 microsecond), and programming strictly in processor assembly code. This required you to really understand the central core foundational technology of digital processors.

I think you have actually minimized all the negative tradeoffs of the new technology that has come to dominate this world. Of course, there are numerous positive changes. But along with the unprecedented access to information, and directly related improvements in health care medical technology, food production, etc. there also is unprecedented access to misinformation, much of it destructive of society, misinformation that formerly had no chance to spread so quickly and perniciously. Also along with the various advantages comes the rise of state-sponsored or state-executed surveillance of whole populations for conformance to fundamentally anti-democratic dictatorial tyrannical rules, mass alienation of entire massive groups of young people habitually focused on violent computer games and other shallow smartphone pursuits divorced from real human face-to-face contact. It goes on.

There is the growing very dangerous dependence on vulnerable computer systems for maintenance of the vital infrastructure of our society like the power grid, telecommunications, banking, the economy in general, and numerous other vital segments of modern society.
 
This vulnerability is extremely dangerous when considering the high likelihood of sometime in the next 50 years experiencing a massive solar coronal discharge of the magnitude of the one that disabled nearly the entire world telegraphy system when it happened back in the 1850s. When this happens, and it will happen, the entire satellite-based digital communication system will crash, with catastrophic effects on the entire infrastructure system of multiple systems. 

Of course state-sponsored hacking of these systems is an ever-present danger. The welfare and survival of countless millions and even of billions of people depend on the smooth operation of all these critical digital systems. 
 
And of course, all this could be considered the inevitable consequences of the natural progression of computer digital technology, and we just have to adjust and adapt. The fallout will be what it will be.

And of course, all this could be considered the inevitable consequences of the natural progression of computer digital technology, and we just have to adjust and adapt. The fallout will be what it will be.

Sort of where I land on this one.

We ain't going to Mars (or any other type of next level advancement of the human race) without digital technology.  We weren't going to get there without fire either, right?

I'm of the same old generation, having worked as a computer/software specialist on some of the early second and third generations of digital aircraft control and navigation systems (systems totally antiquated today, fit only for a museum, using for instance main computers with a miniscule 32K of 24-bit words in their onboard memory and instruction execution time of maybe 1 microsecond), and programming strictly in processor assembly code. This required you to really understand the central core foundational technology of digital processors.

I think you have actually minimized all the negative tradeoffs of the new technology that has come to dominate this world. Of course, there are numerous positive changes. But along with the unprecedented access to information, and directly related improvements in health care medical technology, food production, etc. there also is unprecedented access to misinformation, much of it destructive of society, misinformation that formerly had no chance to spread so quickly and perniciously. Also along with the various advantages comes the rise of state-sponsored or state-executed surveillance of whole populations for conformance to fundamentally anti-democratic dictatorial tyrannical rules, mass alienation of entire massive groups of young people habitually focused on violent computer games and other shallow smartphone pursuits divorced from real human face-to-face contact. It goes on.

There is the growing very dangerous dependence on vulnerable computer systems for maintenance of the vital infrastructure of our society like the power grid, telecommunications, banking, the economy in general, and numerous other vital segments of modern society.
 
This vulnerability is extremely dangerous when considering the high likelihood of sometime in the next 50 years experiencing a massive solar coronal discharge of the magnitude of the one that disabled nearly the entire world telegraphy system when it happened back in the 1850s. When this happens, and it will happen, the entire satellite-based digital communication system will crash, with catastrophic effects on the entire infrastructure system of multiple systems. 

Of course state-sponsored hacking of these systems is an ever-present danger. The welfare and survival of countless millions and even of billions of people depend on the smooth operation of all these critical digital systems. 
 
And of course, all this could be considered the inevitable consequences of the natural progression of computer digital technology, and we just have to adjust and adapt. The fallout will be what it will be.

Quote: I think you have actually minimized all the negative trade-offs of the new technology that has come to dominate this world. 

Yes,  of course I did and I agree but shouldn't your post have been aimed at Silence ? Because I certainly agree with a lot of that..those are some of the things I'm worried about. And I don't think life is better just because we have more of everything, particularly technology. Less is more sometimes. I would address that to Silence, not of course in a combative manner, just..can't you see some sense in that take on things ?

I wasn't attempting to be pejorative at all.  (Hence the "wink" emoji)

I'm not sure how all this turns out either, but I am constantly reminding myself that every generation of older folk tend to see change in tech as a bad thing.  Hell, we were being told in the 70's that television would be the end of athletics as kids just sat on their butts.

There's also a ton of evidence supporting the notion that today is the best day to be born in history.  Infant mortality at all time lows across the globe.  Life expectancy longer now than at any time in history.  Etc etc.

I do think this digital age we're evolving through has pitfalls but are they really any more stark than what we've faced over the arch of our existence?  I certainly don't know.

Of course, Silence and I wasn't irked by it. I hope (might be wrong) I have a sense of humour, I can laugh at myself, at everything, at the absurdity of life, human beings with their (and my) ridiculous clothes and absurd notions and assumptions about all sorts of things, when the only real certainty is that one day we will be snuffed out. 

And of course the statistics show that life is better in many ways, if you regard living to be 100 the epitome of progress. It may be regarded as such for the miniscule amount of healthy centenarians but sadly, advanced old age for most people is just a living nightmare and I'm not in favour of euthanasia. There's so many aspects of life now that have become grotesque and I don't have the answers but in my opinion, life in the sixties and seventies was better. But it's just an opinion, you think not and that's fine. Things have to change anyway, sadly so maybe my post is illogical.