• Catoblepas@lemmy.blahaj.zone
    12·
    3 days ago

    Needs everyone staring at a radio. Then a mass printed book. At one point there were people who thought books might damage women’s health by being too exciting.

    That said, each of those things did bring legitimate unexpected social changes. The flattening of accents and Protestantism weren’t expected consequences of radio communication or printing, introducing new ways that people interact with information about the world just changes how they see and interact with the world.

  • tal@lemmy.todayOPEnglish
    5·
    3 days ago

    There was a point in the past when society was concerned about people wasting their time on television instead of on social media or short-form video or whatever’s du jour now.

    • Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world
      4·
      3 days ago

      If you travel far enough back in time there was a point where humans claimed that the written word would destroy societies. The idea of books would cause people to get lazy and forget things, because a book always remembered, so why bother?

      And today? Well, people still burn books. But now it’s intent is TO cause people to get dumber by the generation. Can’t oppress todays youth in 20 years if they know how their grandparents were oppressed the exact same way.

      And meanwhile the earth still circles the sun. Every rotation a full year later. Each rotation brings mass death, and mass birth. Out with the old, in with the new. The Eiffel Tower had been illegally solsld 3 times. London bridge illegally sold twice (and funnily enough once legally, with that bridge now in Arizona).

      Point is, we’re all just trying to scam each other and control each other. All with the same tricks that have been at play for hundreds of years. New technology, same basic concepts.

      And tomorrow the sun will rise once again. Bringing another day of the same old shit. Just as it ever was.