Podcast on "Techno-Fixes", Scientism and apocalyptic thinking (incl. "singularity")

[Clarke]

Originally Posted by auroraglacialis

He does not say that technology by itself is causing the problems, but that as you said, growth and the need for it (and consequently capitalism) is causing the problems. Hence his desire for a steady state (non capitalist) economy. This can still be a market based economy by the way. Capitalism and markets are not linked per default.

...How do markets work in a way that doesn't just default to capitalism?

And of course there are some things implicit in many technologies. A TV for example is an apparatus that forces a person using it to sit down, pay attention to the screen, not pay attention to others around him and that causes some brainwave alteration resembling hypnosis. This has - no matter how great and educating the program or how dumb it is - the effect that people get individualized, separated from others, kept away from activities that requires their bodies to move. It also is a unidirectional communication device that lets one person talk to many who then cannot talk back but are passive consumers.
These are the "values" that are transported by television, idependent of how it is used or by whom. Computers and the internet have others. I think in the podcast were some other examples, I dont remember them right now.

And if you do the science, you will learn whether or not those values affect people negatively.

[Moco Loco]

Okay, that stuff is way too long and does not grab my attention, so thanks for the summaries.

Originally Posted by Clarke

...How do markets work in a way that doesn't just default to capitalism?

I wonder the same thing; how can this work without growth?