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I can see where you are coming from with your ideas on what you would do if you were in charge.

But, there is a thought, that our industrial society itself is what is causing destruction and has led to the suppression of humans as we have to adapt to machines. I don't suppose that, as an engineer, you have considered that our modern technological society is, in itself totalitarian?

Your ideas reflect your frustration with what is happening but even your tweaks to the system would mean that we would still have to give up a piece of ourselves to conform to society's standards.

We're letting technology take over our lives, willingly. That's the main issue, not who is in control of it as they won't be for ever. Maybe machines will, the way things are going!

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I get your point but its something to manage not to avoid. I would argue we have more personal freedom now than a generation or so ago.

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That is certainly a valid argument and certainly some seem to thrive in a technological society but there has been widespread psychological suffering (and some physical suffering as well) and damage to the natural world.

Your sense of freedom arises from complying with the rules of the game set by others. Are we free when the moral code of our society is so demanding that no one can think, feel and act in a completely moral way? Personally, I find the censorship stifling and the propaganda all pervasive.

There is good reason to believe that primitive man suffered from less stress and frustration and was better satisfied with his way of life than modern man is. A technological society HAS TO weaken family ties and local communities if it is to function efficiently. In modern society an individual’s loyalty must be first to the system and only secondarily to a small-scale community, because if the internal loyalties of small-scale communities were stronger than loyalty to the system, such communities would pursue their own advantage at the expense of the system.

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Strewth… Do you really believe that we in the modern world say post 1945 are now worse off than humans who lived prior…. Plenty of data to support you are wrong.

For most of human existence the bulk of the population went through a miserable existence of wars to starvation back to wars again with early death across the age spectrum.

I am not saying that we have not lost the plot today in many ways, but at least we have the “collective option” to have a far better life and these options just did not exist before…....

You have to decide if you are going to be a victim or a leader of change toward the environment we can live in.... I do worry we are building a society of victims not winners.

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I know, I am positing a view that is not heard very often! I am looking at the big picture. The system that we were born into. You can fiddle with it, as you suggest, but there is no way of reforming or modifying the system so as to prevent it from depriving people of dignity and autonomy.

People today are going through a miserable existence in many countries. In the advanced countries there is ill health, both mental and physical. We are becoming digital slaves.

The continued development of technology will worsen the situation. Modern society requires people to live under conditions radically different from those under which the human race evolved and to behave in ways that conflict with the patterns of behaviour that the human race developed before the industrial revolution. Modern man has the sense (largely justified), that change is IMPOSED on him.

Today people live more by virtue of what the system does FOR them or TO them, rather than by virtue of what they do for themselves. True power would be controlling your own life and dealing with threats that come up by chance, rather than the man made ones we currently face.

Don't forget, while we are typing these words to each other, the 4th Industrial Revolution gathers pace. Soon it will be hard to distinguish between man and machine.

"Imagine AI assistants that not only respond to queries but can anticipate needs, curate information streams, and even supplement human thinking. Gen Beta may readily outsource information gathering and analysis to ASI, receiving back hyper-personalized knowledge that they can then turn into personal wisdom and action".

https://www.morrisfuturist.com/welcome-to-the-biodigital-age-introducing-generation-beta/

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What you are concerned about is a valid threat, but no worse than the first time man harnessed fire or learned to fly or built bridges or split the atom.. etc.

I don’t want to go back to living in a cave or scavenging for food and having a lifespan of about 25 years.

Agreed there is a lot wrong with our society but trying to stop technological progress is not an option.. making it work best for us is where it’s at..

I teach Industry 4.0 https://nigelsouthway.substack.com/p/the-promise-of-industry-40

Its just another tool in our kitbag…

And I am more concerned about our foolish approach to climate change than anything else.

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Well no wonder you don't agree with the point of view I put forward! You are invested in the system. Let's hope it doesn't run away from you and engulf us and our children.

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