Are we better off then we were some 200 years ago? Are we more self sufficient? Do we rely on technology too much? We come home to our climate- controlled homes & ride in our air conditioned cars. All of this sounds really good after a hard day at work but what benefits do we really gain?
Yes, medicine has come a long way in the past 200 years & it’s easier to cross country in almost less time then it would take someone to cross a state some 50 years ago. Has all this technology made us soft?

We sit in front of the TV & grow soft we sit in the front of the computer all day working. We carry cellphones with so people can reach us more easily. We have lost out privacy due to the ability of other to reach us.

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I worship the old Gods because my heart tells me too not because I am told too.

I don't think that modern conveniences and luxuries make us any better off - other than in a material sense. They certainly don't make us any more self-sufficient, the reverse in fact, they make us more reliant on others to make the products in the first place - and then to repair them when they break down.

True, it no longer takes a man an hour to mow an acre of wheat when he's driving a modern combine, nor a day to plough that same acre when he's driving a tractor, but i do feel that we have lost much with our 'progress'.


Peace, Love, & Light

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"An object is perceived, or not perceived, according as the mind is, or is not, tinged with the colour of the object. "
Patanjali - Sutra 4:17

I don't think we have really lost out on anything, but gained. We were given curious minds, either by God or by evolution (depends on your beliefs), and the ability to make life easier by inventing different machines. Personally, I feel lucky to live in this age. I got to know all of you here because of it, I get to learn new things on a daily basis because of it, I get to live longer, and I get to work out in a climate controlled gym too. All because of someone else who was smarter and more creative than I am.

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"Philosophy is a walk on a slippery rock
Religion is a smile on a dog."

I think we don't connect as much with other people as we used to. I think there is more neurosis and obesity. There is too much sitting and relating to pixels. People used to depend on each other for their entertainment. People used to play football at Thanksgiving rather than watching it on TV.

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InterfaithForums.com-Where your ideas and beliefs count.

It's an interesting dilemma, isn't it? We've got so much more time given to us by our modern conveniences, and that's a good thing. We've got light to read by, and don't have to spend hours making dinner, doing the laundry, traveling from place to place, and on and on and on. All these things have multiplied our leisure time hugely.

The problem is in how we choose to use that leisure time. And, as has been mentioned, we spend it primarily sedentary, watching mindless "entertainment" on television.

I'm happy to say I enjoy walking (although not energetic games because my old body and back won't take it), and reading. I watch at the absolute maximum 30 minutes of TV in a day, but I plow through at minimum 6 books a week, and walk at least 20 miles in a week, always to different and (hopefully) interesting places. And I enjoy art galleries, museums and live theatre.

But of all the people that I know personally, only a couple are like me. The rest, as I said, plop in front of the boob tube and don't move again until bedtime.

It's quite sad really. But we can't blame our conveniences. We have only ourselves to blame for the choices we make.

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evangelicalhumanist: Greek "eu"=good and "angelos"=messenger. Spreading the good news of Humanism.

I agree with EH (come on, it's not that surprising). Our personal choices determine the benefit, or lack of, we reap from the extra time afforded by the advances made in industrial evolution. Our societal and cultural conveniences grow just ahead of and at the same speed as the need is dictated by the growth in population. 17th century "technology" would not provide nor suport a population of 7 billion.

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Only Love Prevails,
Don

I don't see much changed from 200 years ago or even 2000 years ago. Yes, technology has advanced, but have we really changed? We used to kill with our bare hands, then with a club and now with guns. People have not changed only their tools and toys.

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May your awareness be perfection