Are We Slowly Becoming Slaves To Machines

My fingers are in my ears and I'm not listening ~ la la la lala la la la You are scaring me Wolfie and I haven't even seen that film! lol I do understand what you mean and in some ways yes I think that too much is done by machines and it could all go wrong but I also would be lost without a lot of those machines! lol Hugs xxx

My friend, I find technology a very scary thing. Though on one hand, I yearn for it to do more things, on the other, I am alarmed at the pace knowledge is being unearthed. But are you talking about a jihad or some machine crusade like the Dune series of books by Herby? I am not sure it will come so soon, not in our life time. For that to happen, machines must first become sentient. Currently, artificial intelligence is still a very infantile field and there is still quite a way to go. I definitely wouldn't want to be here when machines start baring their fangs and slicing the torsos of anyone in sight.

I remember the movie Demon seed of 1977 as I read your discussion.Scientist Alex Harris, doing research on artificial intelligence, is working on a special kind of computer. This computer grows more and more powerful and eventually rapes the scientist's wife.Try to get a copy of it and watch it.You will like it.

What bothers me most about technology is that we have more and more so called time saving gadgets and yet seem to have less time than our parents had. Automatic washing machines are great but I seem to spend more time doing the washing than my mother did using a twin tub. I love to use my computer but it's a time wasting rather than a time saving gadget. I get very frustrated when I phone about anything and I am told they can't tell me anything because the computers are down. I think we are in danger of forgetting how to use our brains and letting the machines do the 'thinking'.

Yes, we are in danger of it. We have besides the computer technology....machines, that wash the dishs, machines that clean the cars, machines we cook in, machines for air and heat.....ect and the computers have eliminated many jobs and created a new online work force...who knows if you will even need to leave your house anymore? They will even bring your groceries to you now! It looks like that there is less and less that we actualy do for ourselves.

First of all, I would like to say that in my oppinion the greatest slave to machines movie was The Matrix. That movie was so profound. Now with that being said...in a way, I guess we are becoming slaves to machines. But machines are not designed to make us lazy. You are looking at it wrong. They are marketed to us to make us believe they make our lives easier. We don't have to work as hard because of them. But in actuality, they are designed to get the most productivity out of us as possible. Follow the vicious circle, if you will. Washing machines and other home appliances allow us to get more done in less time, leaving us free to do other things like rest & relax, right? Not really. Leaving us free to work longer hours to make businesses more money. We can now use our convenient computers to work from home...what a convenience. Now we can spend more time with the family, right? Wrong. Now we can put the kids in front of video games and TVs while we toil away long into the evenings, throw something in the microwave and call it dinner. But all that hard work pays off at vacation time, right? Not exactly. We can now take the family on that dream vacation and take along our blackberrys, PDAs, laptops with air cards, etc. so that we can still be in touch with the office, have conference calls and work all thru that dream vacation. So yes we are somewhat slaves to machines and no they don't make us lazy. They shorten our life and cause us to miss out on a lot of quality time with our loved ones.

To be quite honest sweetheart , I wouldn't want to be here in another 100 years or so , it is getting more like 1984 every day xx

I guess t is something that I have been wondering about to and I can see it happening to be honest not in our Life time and maybe not in our Childrens but I believe further down the Line it will happen Like you I do not want to be around when it does

I am challenged, in that I can not see that well, and I have mobility problems. My computer has allowed me to work, research, and do things that I would not be able to do, had I no computer. For me technology is a good thing. I'm not a slave to it, rather it is my aid in life to do what I need to do. On the other hand, there are plenty of people who take technology for granted, and use it when they really don't need to. I'm not saying do away with computers in offices, home computers, or even the internet at the coffeeshop (where I am right now), just that there needs to be a balance between what we do with computers, and what we do without them.

I think we are...it's a bit of a worry. It started with self serve fuel...no operators cos the bowsers were adjusted for anyone to use. Then it was parking stations. You park your car, take a ticket which is time stamped the when you return you pay. ATMS, got rid of tellers didn't they. Look at what's happening in department stores and supermarkets....self serve checkouts. What happened to the checkout chicks who were replaced...the tellers, the parking station attendants and the driveway attendants? They all lost their jobs, that's what.

Hi Dave...this is HAL! Have you been watching '2001: A Space Odyssey' again? I have told you that these guys will get us...and it is not just movie. Come on Wolfie...the off switch is only inches away...I don't think so!

Good that we of the 'old days' have some survival skills. I feel most for the kids who have no idea how to do anything or get information with a PC. I don't think they even own library cards anymore...I say keep some of the old stuff...just in case it all goes up in smoke...I still have cassette players, and short wave radios around my place, i get the signals i need. It's great to be Globally connected, but it is nice to just be in my own little world now and then. Thats why i like king of the hill..which i still get via my antenna TV :)

Hi,wolfie, Yup,I agree with you .I known the environment that we live is getting worse day after day after industrial revolution!!We are slowly beloming slaves to mahines,but so many people in the world need to live,to eat ,reside and tog,so we have no choice! Sunny

it is a good discussion .maybe i can get a short conclusion of this discussion ,it is all because of the people's laziness,,wo do not want to walk on foot so we invent cars ,we do not want to calculate,so we invent somputer, wo do not want to wash the clothes,so washer is coming haha just because of the laziness of the human ,we whole human get a great progress .so the machines are the slaves of our man ,we are lazy ,but we can push the wheel of the history,so we human are great . just my own view , wolfie ,,could you give me some comment ?

As you know, I am a postgraduated student. Thus, I have to do some research by some machines! Some people asked me weather I liked doing research. My answer was I would like to sleep all day long if possible! Then, you know how lazy I am! Shame on so many levels, lol. If the technology is more developped... To work hard, not to work hard! Well, poor Shakespeare will get angry to know that I have misused his infamous sentences! Literally, I don't want to work hard though I have to! I don't mind to be lazy however! Don't laugh at me, please! Have a great day!

You are so right that we have become slaves to technology. It is putting millions of people out of jobs. Just think about when phoning a company to complain about something, and you get a voice mail and it asks you a million questions before forwarding you to the right department and then half the time you get transferred to the wrong department. Now if they still had people to talk to you would get the right department right off the bat and not have to answer a million questions to the machine. I was cleaning one of my clients homes when she got on the phone to the phone company and after being asked a million questions she got transferred and asked if she was now speaking to a real person. I laughed so hard. She is an 87 year old woman and knows nothing about technology and so she didn't know if she was talking to some one real or just a machine. She told me after the woman sounded no different than the machine. Just plain and bland and not caring that she was having a problem. So yes, I think technoligy is really hurting us and our economy. We need to get back to basics and give people jobs instead of giving machines jobs. Another example is bank machines. People don't need to go into a bank anymore therefore they don't need as many tellers anymore and so a lot of people were let go. It is a sad world we live in. Alrighty then, talk to you later my friend, Have a good mylotting day, Chris

Well we made machines just to be dependent, and when you are over dependent, you are slave of the thing so its no big deal in it!

As the technology is growing and the machines makes us lazy by doing all work by itself and now a days people have become so addicted to machines and they don't believe themselves instead believe the machines, so this proves that the people are becoming slaves to the machines. And the future would be the machines ruling us.

I just love technology and I have to admit that I am a bit of a gadget man myself! I subscribe to free newsletters in relation to technology so that you are always aware of the way technology is changing. Despite the advances in technology I think that we are all free willed and don't have to become enslaved by technology if we don't want to. Having said all this, I have to admit, I hope that I live for a very long time as I want to see what is on it's way especially in relation to personal robots. Does anyone remember the film "I-Robot" starring Will Smith? Great movie, hope it turns out just like that without the violence and the robots going bonkers!!!

Technology is actually one cause of obesity and laziness in the current generation. Also, it has taken away peoples patience which is really a bad thing...no one can wait 1 minute for anything anymore...we are all in such a rush because where doing 3 things in a day was good, now you have to do 1 hundred! Technology has even adversly effected the family structure. Women can have children without a man which aids in breaking down the family structure that God most certainly intended for a reason. Technology is good, but it is bad. I am starting to think that we may be advancing too rapidly and will end in a matrix type of society which will be really sad.