[Coco] OT Pet Peeve - was Re: Amish Virus

[Andrew]

Message: 6
Date: Mon, 28 Feb 2005 15:01:32 +1100
From: David <golgotha at toughguy.net>
Subject: Re: [Coco] Amish Virus
To: CoCoList for Color Computer Enthusiasts <coco at maltedmedia.com>
Message-ID: <4222979C.3070605 at toughguy.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed

Stephen Castello wrote:

[snip]

 >>

Ok, so we can amend the virus to read

"Please hand-write a copy of this virus (printers are evil), Please then

[snip]

I just wanted to point out something that is a small "pet-peeve" of 
mine, a misconception that is quite rampant in American society about 
the Amish.

The Amish do not consider technology to be evil or good, they see it as 
it is, a tool. However, they (as a community) attempt to do something 
that we could all learn from:

They evaluate their tools, keep the ones that work (and aren't likely to 
do the community undue "harm"), and leave the others behind (or better 
would be to say "in reserve", to re-evaluate at a later point, and 
see/think/understand how it could be integrated into their communities 
as time goes on).

I am not saying we should step back in history to the "Amish level" 
(indeed, I am a proponent of the theory of a coming technological 
Singularity) - but I do believe we all should step back and evaluate our 
tools and technology, and how they effect (and affect) our lives, our 
families, and our community. We (within our communities) should stop and 
question ourselves more than we do on this.

Unfortunately, we don't do it nearly as often as we should, and in many 
cases only after the horse has left the barn. One could argue that by 
doing it this way, we have advanced by leaps and bounds, much quicker 
than we could have otherwise.

But at what cost...?

Andrew L. Ayers
Glendale/Phoenix, Arizona