
Ask HN: What Is Tech For? - adamsea
What is tech for?
======
gitgud
Technology is machinery (sometimes virtual) which makes a task easier than the
alternative. It's used _for_ whatever the owner decides it to be:

It can be used _for_ improving life e.g.; Electricity, Engines, Mechanisation
of Agriculture, The Internet, Sanitation.

It can also be used _for_ controlling life e.g.; Propaganda, Mechanisation of
War, Internet Addiction.

 _" If you can't control the technology, then it's controlling you"_ \- Open
Source Enthusiast

------
Jack000
If tech can be generalized to "tool", tech is the defining feature of
humanity. Language, fire, society and even art can all fall under this
umbrella.

In many ways, humans exist for tech rather than the opposite. "Tech" in the
abstract exists in the collective minds of humanity, and will endure as long
as humanity endures, even when individuals perish. When an individual
contributes to tech it is passed down through the ages, a small form of
immortality.

~~~
adamsea
Is tech like that virus that lives in cat poop, then, that infects the brains
of mice and alters their behavior so the mice actually put the survival of the
virus before their own?

Because tech is also wonderful but clearly humanity struggles with limits, and
seems sometimes to build tech even when its detrimental to humanity.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxoplasmosis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxoplasmosis)
> Infection with T. gondii has been shown to alter the behavior of mice and
rats in ways thought to increase the rodents' chances of being preyed upon by
cats.[

~~~
Jack000
Yes certainly, memetic information is similar to a virus (eg. religion). There
exists technology whose sole purpose is to kill or torture, it's all part of
the human story for better or worse.

------
ironmagma
Everyone will answer differently, but for me, tech is about making life better
for the next generation. Maybe that means longer lives or better education, or
even perhaps more efficient use of time. This worldview does, for better or
worse, mean that some tech is not “good tech” or is more useless than other
technology, such as social media apps.

~~~
adamsea
I'm with you. Ultimately it's not about the program, it's about the user.

Or as Tron put it, "I fight for the user" :).

------
ineedausername
For making money

