I grew up using maps and having a sense of direction, and now I have a phone. I used to try to remember numbers, and now I... can just call them up instantly. And that's great. But what's happening right now is that we're in a phase of human evolution where we're merging with machines.
Interpretation
Franklin Foer reflects on the impact of technology on human memory and direction.
In this quote, Foer highlights the transformation brought about by technological advancements, specifically how reliance on devices like smartphones has altered our fundamental skills, such as navigation and memory. He suggests that while these changes have conveniences, they also represent a significant shift in human evolution as we increasingly integrate with machines, blurring the lines between human capability and technological assistance.
In practice
During a technology conference to illustrate the pros and cons of modern advancements.
The biggest problem is that Facebook and Google are these giant feedback loops that give people what they want to hear. And when you use them in a world where your biases are being constantly confirmed, you become susceptible to fake news, propaganda, demagoguery.
We've been merging with tools since the beginning of human evolution, and arguably, that's one of the things that makes us human beings.
Because of the nature of Moore's law, anything that an extremely clever graphics programmer can do at one point can be replicated by a merely competent programmer some number of years later.
We don't need to reject or disparage technology. We need to put it in its place.
A new bubble will replace the old one. A new technology will come along to fix the messes we made with the last one. In a way, that is the story of the settling of the Americas, the supposedly inexhaustible frontier to which Europeans escaped.
In digital era, privacy must be a priority. Is it just me, or is secret blanket surveillance obscenely outrageous?
The Internet treats censorship as a malfunction and routes around it.
Not only have computers changed the way we think, they've also discovered what makes humans think - or think we're thinking. At least enough to predict and even influence it.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.