Cephus
Master Member
Sadly, a lot of people have. Technology has given them a vastly perverted view on how the real world actually works.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
- Thread starter Noeland
- Start date
Cephus
Master Member
We used to have to figure out where we were going on a map. Now, people have a cheerful voice telling them when to turn and a lot of them still get lost.
Lightning
Master Member
Can confirm, my '63 beetle's manual does have valve adjustment instructions
Can also confirm, lost without GPS. However I learned to drive just before GPS became a thing, and I was always hopeless at navigation, so GPS came along just in time.
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The thing is, we are not noticeably smarter or dumber than we were fifty thousand years ago. Our skulls are the same size. Most likely brains, too. The real trick was offloading accumulated knowledge into books, which let us build on what others before us had figured out. I can't get too much into the other stuff, because it's socioeconomics and politics and the banhammer casts a long shadow. I will only say there is value... and then there is cost... and the two are frequently not aligned.
That our differences will be entirely learned behaviors, rather than physical evolution, Gene understood. He spent a bit talking about that, through the character of Jim Kirk, in his introduction to the TMP novelization. His analogy of "Wagon Train... to the stars" was apt. The "final frontier" of Star Trek was envisioned to be much like the Westward Expansion of 19th century America. The East Coast was crowded and civilized and those who didn't fit that... left. Kirk commented on how those who join Starfleet are "throwbacks", who are restless among regular society. A bit like the Moses legend, they help create the world, but can't live in it. We saw that played out in the TOS films, with how Kirk really was out of place on Earth.
...But, I hasten to add, throwbacks from the "New Man" of the 23rd century, not all the way to the worst of early 21st century human characteristics.
Almost every car today has an onboard computer that controls valve timing and other engine performance settings. Warning labels are on things for good old CYA reasons. Sure, you can download software, hook your laptop up to your car, and mess with things, but it's well beyond '60s-era under-the-hood tinkering now, and screwing things up could very easily render the car inoperable, rather than just running rough. Modern cars are sophisticated engineering puzzles of unibodies and crumple zones and such, rather than mild steel that's expected to rot out within a decade and motors that are woefully inefficient compared to today's.
And advisories to not do certain things are there because someone somewhere did the thing. When you've got close to four hundred million people in a country, there are gonna be some people who are, for various reasons and in various ways, behind the intelligence curve.
All of the technological stuff is no shock, either. All of that has been around for barely over a generation. We're still learning how to use it. Just in the last decade, GPS software has made huge strides. We're nowhere near done figuring out how to healthily introduce our children to the internet and ease in their access to it. The novelty of being instantly interlinked to billions of people all around the planet still hasn't work off, even though we've become used to it. It'll probably be another generation before the kinks and bugs start to be properly worked out and it all becomes an invisible, integrated part of life -- less obtrusively than currently. Some people do better with GPS telling them where they're going. Others do better with physical media. Kirk preferred physical books over digital versions.
Since the Industrial Revolution, there's been a divide between the people inventing and making stuff... and the people using it. Currently, it doesn't take a whole lot of tutelage to be able to use a car or a cell phone, but to optimize and tweak them, one needs to be an engineer. It isn't accessible for the layperson. The design challenge now is to narrow that gap. Make things so that people can pick them up, intuit how to use them and optimize them for their own personal use, and not break them. Without having to take classes. That's the "technology unchained" that Gene talked about. Of course, to get in and reconfigure or repair something, it'd still take advanced training. And there'd still be people who prefer physical road maps.
That our differences will be entirely learned behaviors, rather than physical evolution, Gene understood. He spent a bit talking about that, through the character of Jim Kirk, in his introduction to the TMP novelization. His analogy of "Wagon Train... to the stars" was apt. The "final frontier" of Star Trek was envisioned to be much like the Westward Expansion of 19th century America. The East Coast was crowded and civilized and those who didn't fit that... left. Kirk commented on how those who join Starfleet are "throwbacks", who are restless among regular society. A bit like the Moses legend, they help create the world, but can't live in it. We saw that played out in the TOS films, with how Kirk really was out of place on Earth.
...But, I hasten to add, throwbacks from the "New Man" of the 23rd century, not all the way to the worst of early 21st century human characteristics.
Almost every car today has an onboard computer that controls valve timing and other engine performance settings. Warning labels are on things for good old CYA reasons. Sure, you can download software, hook your laptop up to your car, and mess with things, but it's well beyond '60s-era under-the-hood tinkering now, and screwing things up could very easily render the car inoperable, rather than just running rough. Modern cars are sophisticated engineering puzzles of unibodies and crumple zones and such, rather than mild steel that's expected to rot out within a decade and motors that are woefully inefficient compared to today's.
And advisories to not do certain things are there because someone somewhere did the thing. When you've got close to four hundred million people in a country, there are gonna be some people who are, for various reasons and in various ways, behind the intelligence curve.
All of the technological stuff is no shock, either. All of that has been around for barely over a generation. We're still learning how to use it. Just in the last decade, GPS software has made huge strides. We're nowhere near done figuring out how to healthily introduce our children to the internet and ease in their access to it. The novelty of being instantly interlinked to billions of people all around the planet still hasn't work off, even though we've become used to it. It'll probably be another generation before the kinks and bugs start to be properly worked out and it all becomes an invisible, integrated part of life -- less obtrusively than currently. Some people do better with GPS telling them where they're going. Others do better with physical media. Kirk preferred physical books over digital versions.
Since the Industrial Revolution, there's been a divide between the people inventing and making stuff... and the people using it. Currently, it doesn't take a whole lot of tutelage to be able to use a car or a cell phone, but to optimize and tweak them, one needs to be an engineer. It isn't accessible for the layperson. The design challenge now is to narrow that gap. Make things so that people can pick them up, intuit how to use them and optimize them for their own personal use, and not break them. Without having to take classes. That's the "technology unchained" that Gene talked about. Of course, to get in and reconfigure or repair something, it'd still take advanced training. And there'd still be people who prefer physical road maps.
I still think if someone has to be warned not to drink the contents of the battery, operating much of anything may not be for them.
I have often been around cars in various states of disassembly at home garages -- projects that take months or years. I have seen kids hanging around. I have observed how curious they tend to be. I stapled my finger when I was about seven. I wanted to see what it felt like. News flash: It hurt. "I wonder what this is..." with no ability to anticipate consequences is a hallmark of the juvenile mind, and certain forms of cognitive difficulties or neurodivergence. All it takes is a lawsuit from one parent of a mentally-handicapped thirteen-year-old who curiously popped the cap off the battery next to the car his dad was working on while his dad was inside for a minute, and deciding that since it was liquid in there it was okay to drink... and bam! warning label.
I don't know the circumstances behind every warning label. Some are because innocents got hurt by trusting improperly-conveyed items, like the woman who got third-degree burns to her groin from over-hot McDonald's coffee spilling in her lap. Some are from people deliberately circumventing safety measures, like roofers who wire back the cut-off bar on their nailguns. Some are probably from unsupervised kids getting hurt and the parents not wanting to take responsibility. Some are likely due to the fact that, in a country of tens and, eventually, hundreds of millions, there are gonna be some just plain morons among the population.
Of course, the problem with idiot-proofing everything is that nature will always make an improved idiot...
I don't know the circumstances behind every warning label. Some are because innocents got hurt by trusting improperly-conveyed items, like the woman who got third-degree burns to her groin from over-hot McDonald's coffee spilling in her lap. Some are from people deliberately circumventing safety measures, like roofers who wire back the cut-off bar on their nailguns. Some are probably from unsupervised kids getting hurt and the parents not wanting to take responsibility. Some are likely due to the fact that, in a country of tens and, eventually, hundreds of millions, there are gonna be some just plain morons among the population.
Of course, the problem with idiot-proofing everything is that nature will always make an improved idiot...
To be fair, the classic vw manual was a serious joy to read. I would read it again just for old times sake. And as the owner of a 63, you likely use your rpf maker skills more than most car owners today.
Oh, I'll be honest -- much as I like my ten-year-old Forester for general-duty, I much prefer older cars for actual Driving™. I like to say I'm building a working 1:1 scale model of a DeLorean, as I'm working from the frame out, cleaning, patching, repairing, upgrading, and modding nearly everything as I go. The original shop manual has been a godsend. And, leaving out the engine (which is a whole other thing) and all the bolts and screws and panel clips that serve as "glue", it's got fewer than half as many pieces as the Bandai Perfect Grade Millennium Falcon. And a lot of those are door seals and rub strips and lights and such. Really maybe only about seventy-five big, important pieces to contend with -- and carpet's hard to screw up.
But none of us in this thread are what I would call entirely normal... *lol*
But none of us in this thread are what I would call entirely normal... *lol*
Cephus
Master Member
Unfortunately, we have so many people these days who have spent so much time having everything handed to them, not having to work for anything, that there's very little common sense anymore. They expect everything on a silver platter. They expect to be catered to. They think people have to go out of their way not to offend them.
Those people are idiots.
Cephus
Master Member
I think I was 15 when I pulled the engine out of my grandmother's Cadillac Sedan de Ville. Obviously, I had help for the heavy lifting and all of that, but I've rebuilt a ton of engines over the years. You're right. The number of people that I can speak intelligently to about cars, even modern cars, I can probably count on one hand. I'll go out and change the oil or do brake work and people look at me like I'm from Mars. It's bizarre.
So with all that said... I think this planet needs a warning label.
I honestly think this was one of the original draws in Star Trek. They explained the tech. They expected you to geek out and dig in. I really hope to see more of this focus in the future instead of the daytime soap opera churning of interpersonal conflicts. Bring back the thrill of discovery instead of the Discovery's next thrill. Personal request, I get it. Some people love emotional shock but we do have to realize that, one day soon, the trope of "totally anti cannon surprise" events and actions will run out. There will no longer be a "they never did that in any of the old shows because", or "Omg, that is totally going to mess up the current universe storyline." And please don't get me started on how many times they start an anti cannon action and promise to explain how it will work and then they don't. Iam really relying on great visual effects at this point.
and to reply to myself with further agreement.... the joy of geeking on Trek was that rabbit hole arguments with your Trek buddies (or arch enemies) meant explaining your logical and scientific opinion. Now, the arguments are about relationshp 'rights' and 'responsibilities' and the next batch of imposed social dispute.
Cephus
Master Member
You used to be able to do that with shows. Today, especially with binging, there is no reason to get together with other fans and try to figure out what's coming next. Even for week-to-week shows, there's no point in trying to figure anything out because you know that the people making the shows don't care. They haven't thought about it. The technology is just a mechanism to get to more drama.
Hard pass.
Lightning
Master Member
I get what you are saying but, while they tried to make stuff sound plausible, they explicitly did not try to explain how it worked. Roddenberry wrote in the writers guide that Sgt. Friday does not stand up and explain how his service revolver works, and neither should Captain Kirk. We are lucky they told us the warp engines run on Dilithium and Antimatter.
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Cephus
Master Member
That didn't really happen until TNG where everything was a ridiculous string of technobabble nonsense. TOS gave you what it needed to for the episode to make sense. It didn't try to explain how warp drive functioned in detail.
Please tell me at least they didn't do shaky cam.....
