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There are my idle thoughts on the matter:

I have also caught the nostalgia bug, but I suspect that in the future we will come to see this as a bug in people, not in technology. And, eventually, I suspect that we will "fix" that bug, for better or worse, by more tightly integrating our consciousness with the hyper-reality which we have created.

In the end, we won't have evolved beyond the online world -- we will have evolved beyond the "actual" world, or put another way, we will have evolved beyond the human sentimentality that values reality over hyper-reality.



I suspect that "bug" will be "fixed" by upcoming and future generations that haven't experienced a world without these things. (Which I suppose could arguably be alternatively phrased as "by more tightly integrating our consciousness with the hyper-reality which we have created.")


While that may begin the process, I think (obviously, I have no proof) that this nostalgic sentiment is "hard-wired" into humanity, because it seems like throughout history mankind has always looked at the past and felt longing for the simpler times. Therefore, I believe this sentiment will only be completely overcome once we begin to literally change the nature of humanity, for example using cybernetics or biological modification.


Not knowing a world without these things might just as well be a reason for upcoming youngsters to view our current mentality as "old-fashioned". And we all know how much youngsters hate old fashioned stuff. They might not want to step into our shoes; maybe they will be more conscientious about things we are currently not at all interested in.




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