For example my sister is in Thailand right now, and I'm always blown away that it takes a couple of seconds to send her a message. Do you ever sit back and think to yourself 'wow, it's fantastic that we can do 'x'?
2007-03-10 16:18:18 · 6 answers · asked by Adam J 6 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Other - Science
It is not the gadgets and devices of modern technology itself that is most astonishing, it is the modern mindset that has produced modernity that I find amazing.
It is easy (in our modern age) to assume that there will always be progress but this was not always the case. It was somewhere in the 17th century that European thinkers such as Francis Bacon, John Locke, Isaac Newton, Rene Descrates began to break with tradition, which saw the world as stagnant. Instead they posited (and showed) that our world could be understood in rational terms. This led directly to the industrial revolution and eventually to our own digital age. Now that is what I find astonishing.
2007-03-10 16:34:42 · answer #1 · answered by Taharqa 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I'm torn between saying that so much of it is taken for granted, or that it's amazing how far we've come in the last hundred years.
I remind myself, from time to time, that the device I'm using -- cell phone, computer, digital camera, even car -- is based on hundreds or thousands of other inventions, and hundreds of years of human discovery! What a debt we owe to our ancestors!
And I remind myself that it's all so cool, because like many people, I take it for granted. As you said, it's amazing to be able to connect with a distant loved one in seconds -- even visually if you have the right equipment. We all tend to forget (if we ever knew) what life was like before some of these inventions. Just two years ago I didn't have a cell phone, and now it's no big deal. But a month without it, or without Internet service, or a hundred other things and the appreciation comes flooding back!
2007-03-10 17:07:20 · answer #2 · answered by Question Mark 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think the most astonishing thing about technology in general is its present pace which obsoletes technologies only a few years old - BETA tape to VHS to DVD to Blue Ray disks to multi-Gig MP3 players the size of a cigarette lighter!. And other computer and digital technologies are getting damned hard to keep pace with.
It's mind boggling to consider where these technologies will be in another 10 or 20 years.
2007-03-10 16:31:28 · answer #3 · answered by LeAnne 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The thing that is most astonishing to me is the speed with which it is changing - for example how fast the computer and computer technology changes and how fast these type changes spread to other technologies and uses.
2007-03-10 23:57:57 · answer #4 · answered by 63vette 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Space travel is the most astonishing thing for me. This department uses all most all the latest technologies in the pursuit of safe and fast space travel. I am sure one day I can travel into space!
2007-03-10 16:36:45 · answer #5 · answered by Wiser 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The amount of information available to each person is staggering. You don't have to own the book or know the expert. Everyone has an equal chance at gaining information from the Internet. Awesome. And addicting.
2007-03-10 16:22:34 · answer #6 · answered by ecolink 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋