I think it's a really great idea . I don't really have much to say other than the combination of dust and technology reminded me a little of Firefly.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
That is cool. I hear what the "a pump would be more useful" folks are saying, but then there's the "teach a man to fish" thing.
In any case, I think it's great that this is being done.
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
In a country where there is traditionally a significant class divide as far as access to education goes, I think this is spectacularly important.
Posted by Dale (Member # 7949) on :
Hello Hatrack River This would be my first post on this forum board and I am excited to join here. Now I do hate to start my posting on a sour note but me being the slightly pessimistic one isn’t this kind of sad. If one was to look beyond the neat implications of computers one would see a very old and time honored traditions being torn down. What is next? Soon they will have the Television. Yes they will have the great added benefit of some things that improve the length of life, such as medicines and hospitals. Then they will get better schools and learn much about their surroundings. But then what? They will soon be introduced to the moral digressions that plague society and soon they will digress like the rest of us and soon we will only be in a large dirty cesspool of pure garbage. Sorry about such a long post, first post jitters
Posted by Teshi (Member # 5024) on :
Hello Dale and welcome to Hatrack! I'm honoured that my thread caused you to make your first post .
However, I disagree with your post. Technology is pretty much a fact of life, one that is going to infect everything sooner or later, regardless of whether it affects things in a good or a bad way. This is giving these children a chance to educate themselves that they would otherwise not have the opportunity to get.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Welcome to Hatrack, Dale.
I agree that much of what general society has to offer is indeed toxic; however, I disagree with your pessimism. Technology, like many things, is neither good nor evil. It can be used for either.
Right now, it seems to me that this particular technology is being used for great good. Is there a potential for negative uses as well? Certainly. But that is not sufficient reason, IMO, to refuse to use it, or to try to shove the djinn back in the bottle.
Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
One problem we have in Sri Lanka is that there are many educated people (accounting diplomas, engineering degrees, whatever) who cannot get jobs in their fields, so they return to their home village and work as fishermen. Now, after the tsunami, they can't even do that because the boats were destroyed and have not yet been replaced.
Will that happen in India? Is that already happening?
Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
Dale, I've been to India, spent a long week with a poorer family, and watched their less well off neighbors.
They already have Television.
In every cardboard slum there is a tv or two for people to watch, and possibly a satelite dish or stolen cable.
On that television the state has to run commercials informing these poor people that killing your baby daughters is a crime, not a way to improve your life.
I don't think we need to worry about the moral degradation of the internet ruining these innocent souls.
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
Not all of modern life is a bad thing, althouhg it is easy to sit here in the USA (assuming that is where you are...if not, just substitute your home country... ), eating plenty of food that you didn't grow yourself, with perhaps air conditioning and heat for the winter months....
Get the drift?
Unless you plan on renouncing all benifits of modern life yourself, because we are all doomed because of it, then you need to look deeper. It isn;t jsut about computers, it is about reaching out and helping others, as best you can.
I think it is cool...and the ramifications of it from a learning process is facinating. I wonder what this says about our conventional teaching methods?
Oh, and BTW....welcome to Hatrack, Dale!
Kwea
Posted by Dale (Member # 7949) on :
Well I guess I learned something today that people post here very fast so I will have to try and keep up. Now to respond and partly rephrase. I believe that technology does have its place but there is some sad to it. Yes there is good to technology and I am not saying that we should have no technology but if we are not careful then there will be a large lag I guess you could say in the development of the community. This is mostly a runoff of a book I have just recently finished titled the axe makers gift. Anyone read it?? Well I guess I speak more on the "Dangers of convenience" and "Evils of Technology". But it may be better to ease the people into the tech not hurl them as they kind of doing here. For example "most had never seen packaging" it might be better to introduce them to the basics first.
EDIT: I did not mean to ignore previous posts but I forgot to throw in this, I have seen some of the things that many countries do and yes they are morally wrong I guess it was directed to many cultures that are being "invaded" by the modern world
[ May 03, 2005, 12:49 AM: Message edited by: Dale ]
Posted by 1135813 (Member # 7816) on :
Is the modern world really such a bad thing? Moral degeneration goes back millenia-- it isn't purely an invention of Bill Gates and MTV. After all, computers don't bait people; people bait people.
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
Dale, if you're going to introduce technology, what better place than a computer and the internet? They can learn about all other technology online. Posted by no. 6 (Member # 7753) on :
This is the "freedom of choice" argument all over again. Do we want to introduce new products/ideas in a world already saturated?
I want that choice, but many may find that they don't need another decision, or, in this case, moral temptation.
The responsibility remains with parenting and individual choice. A plethora of choices doesn't change a thing, you still have to rely on your individual morality.
We need to take individual responsibility for our actions, and not rely on some outside agency to decide what is good for us.
Posted by Sid Meier (Member # 6965) on :
This is amazing! We say 5 computers for a particular village and all the kids manage to teach them selves HOW to use the computer then think about it! Its amazing! They can learn so much from those computers, math, chemistry, foreign languages etc etc. I know 5 cimputers probly isnt enough but as it said other children stood by and watched and learned from watching and they'll get their turn eventually. While getting a school and a proper education is nice and all but if that school isnt availiable educating yourself with a computer is the next best thing.
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. I don't really have much to say other than the combination of dust and technology reminded me a little of Firefly.
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), eating plenty of food that you didn't grow yourself, with perhaps air conditioning and heat for the winter months....