Ask A Monk: Technology Vs. Tribal Society
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Uploader Comments (yuttadhammo)
All Comments (25)
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@sheepblitzer Yes. No argument there. We used to write cheques, and then got the debit card for greater efficiency. But if our debit transaction is five seconds late we start to lose it! Lol but seriously, the people who believe continual technological progress will create a utopia for us are totally misguided.
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@squamish4244 i agree with your solution first off. anyway, your example shows the importance of political structure (e.g. decentralized tribes vs. authoritarian states) in analyzing human societies. Yet people tend to overemphasize the significance of technology.
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I have one more thing to add - without medical technology my sister would have died in childbirth. Instead, she had a routine c-section and was out of the hospital in a few days. And that is a very, very good thing.
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@sheepblitzer I believe the human future lies in decentralized yet connected societies as well, as long as they have the freedom to choose the technologies they want. For instance, the Inuit of northern Canada have chosen to live in modern buildings with access to proper health care, communications, etc. but still hunt seals using dogsleds. One village even banned snowmobiles to help maintain their traditional way of life.
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I don't think technology has that big a difference on human society. What really makes the difference between modern american and native american societies (example) is the political organization; a centralized government, with top-down authority and the concentration of wealth and power in the hands of a few; Versus a decentralized society with mutual aid and equality. either type could have or not have technology, and it wouldnt change as much.
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@yuttadhammo Thank you also for a respectful dialogue which is difficult to come across even on Buddhist videos. I look forward to viewing more of your uploads, I've only looked at a few so far and find it a fascinating exploration of the teachings and your way of being with the world :)
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@yuttadhammo My hope for developing countries is that they can choose which aspects of modernity to keep and which to avoid. Medicine so we can be healthy, communications technology so we can understand one another better - and spread the dharma! - democratic politics and women's rights. Avoid the ideology of consumerism, inequitable wealth distribution, environmental degradation and of course the arms trade which contributed to such terrible suffering in the Sri Lankan civil war.
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@atfatw This isn't rocket science. There are many sources of unbiased information out there presenting the facts I've just related. Furthermore, Buddhism is all about keeping an open mind, and while I have great respect and admiration for this man, the path he has chosen and the wisdom he has to offer, I don't agree with everything he says, and other Buddhist teachers and traditions also disagree with certain aspects of his talks. I hope that's acceptable to you.
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@squamish4244 haha I win. maybe you are intelligent enough to see the truth but I doubt it.
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A difficult question indeed. There are two sides to the issue. I think the achievement of industrialization in eliminating famine, epidemic disease, and high infant and child mortality cannot be overstated. These have all caused unimaginable suffering and for the first time in history they have all been chased away from large regions of the earth, and even remote villages like yuttadhammo's in Sri Lanka have benefited.
squamish4244 6 months ago
@squamish4244 it depends how you understand the causes of such things; and of course industrialization has also led to things like massive international arms trade, which Sri Lanka certainly hasn't benefited from, to say the least - talk about unimaginable suffering! Putting aside the question of whether karma is related to disease, the effects of industrialization in areas like land and wealth distribution, crop production, and environmental degradation have caused great suffering as well.
yuttadhammo 6 months ago