# Stuff that just amazes me. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 21, 2009, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-just-amazes-me/482284 "2009-01-21T10:53:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-just-amazes-me/482284/61 "2009-01-22T22:02:05Z")
> [@BlinkingDuck](#): > > … In addition, I mean biology in the broadest sense but don’t know the correct word. I think life sciences is the correct term. Chemistry also digs into that pretty heavily. Chemistry is a bit of a bridge between the two. I’ve even heard a lecture by a chemist about quantum tunneling in enzyme catalysis. ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-just-amazes-me/482284/62 "2009-01-22T22:20:05Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > During finals week in December, I had way too many young female students crying because their computer crashed or was stolen and they lost all their papers! DUH, back them up! Buy a USB drive, keep it on your keychain. You’ll ALWAYS have those papers with you. I am so afraid of this happening that I’ve backed up my thesis on three different drives: my home computer, my virtual drive at school, and my USB. Right now only two of those are up to date and that’s making me very nervous. I’m most amazed by the human brain. All this _stuff_ comes out of a lump of fat with some chemicals and electricity buzzing around inside a bone case. Wow. ---
**Author:** ![Jaglavak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/85f322/32.png) [@Jaglavak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaglavak)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-just-amazes-me/482284/63 "2009-01-22T23:29:55Z")
Remember back when a Palm Pilot was just a guy that spent too much time in the shower? ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-just-amazes-me/482284/64 "2009-01-22T23:41:47Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > We have digital camera and I see people say I have 1000 photos of my cat. That’s nice but they ACTUALLY have A THOUSAND photos of their cat. That is stupid. All it does is devalue the individual photo. > > Techonology has taken away a large portion of our creativity. Instead of thinking and using our minds to create, we rely on machines or simple create by massive tries. This is not to say the creativity isn’t there, but it’s unused. By taking a thousand photos of your cat though you presumably get better at taking pictures of your cat. Creativity often includes doing the same task over and over until you acquire the skill to be creative in your chosen medium. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-just-amazes-me/482284/65 "2009-01-23T00:04:14Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > Techonology has taken away a large portion of our creativity. Instead of thinking and using our minds to create, we rely on machines or simple create by massive tries. This is not to say the creativity isn’t there, but it’s unused. I’m a visual artist. I create both on and off the computer. I can’t even begin to tell you how much the computer has increased my creativity. I can do things on the computer, things that I literally could not have done otherwise, then transfer them to my paintings. I’m constantly discovering new techniques that used to be impossible. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-just-amazes-me/482284/66 "2009-01-23T00:47:14Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > I’m constantly discovering new techniques that used to be impossible. Be gentle on poor Mark: He probably thinks the Renaissance artists were superhuman geniuses who never used a _camera obscura_ to make tracings with proper perspective or grid lines to accurately scale sketches or experimented with new paints to get colors unimaginable in the Middle Ages. He probably also thinks Albrecht Dürer’s theoretical works crippled his mind for life. It’s difficult to realize your heroes are cheating bastards. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-just-amazes-me/482284/67 "2009-01-23T03:39:02Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > By taking a thousand photos of your cat though you presumably get better at taking pictures of your cat. Creativity often includes doing the same task over and over until you acquire the skill to be creative in your chosen medium. Exactly. The standard of photography by non-experts has gone up massively since the digital revolution, from what I’ve seen. Anyone who’s had anything to do with professional photographers would know that they take massive amounts of shots. Before digital, they went through rolls of film like water, refining both their technique in general and the specific photo they were taking in particular. The only difference now is that everyone can afford to do this. Plus also there’s the immediate feedback thing: one of the problems with film was that there was a large time gap between taking the photo and seeing the result, which is hard to learn from. Now even my six year old can take a photo, then look at how it’s come out, then realise what he’s done wrong, then take it again correcting for the problem straight away, lesson learned. ---
**Author:** ![Bam\_Boo\_Gut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8c91f0/32.png) [@Bam\_Boo\_Gut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bam_Boo_Gut)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-just-amazes-me/482284/68 "2009-01-23T03:50:05Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > **7,500 songs** snip > MP3 players amaze me. Yup yup! I RAN to my car with mine just like I used to run home with my 45’s and play them on the mono - stacked up balanced to drop down & play one after another. I plugged a set of speakers into the cigarette lighter and hooked that little baby up. I’m in playlist heaven. Digital sound. Remember how heavy those things were? I’ve got a ratttling old jeep and there was no point in having a CD player in it - too much jumping. It’s crapped out now, but we still use it for its flash drive. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-just-amazes-me/482284/69 "2009-01-23T04:01:31Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > Plus also there’s the immediate feedback thing: one of the problems with film was that there was a large time gap between taking the photo and seeing the result, which is hard to learn from. Now even my six year old can take a photo, then look at how it’s come out, then realise what he’s done wrong, then take it again correcting for the problem straight away, lesson learned. It doesn’t seem to deter people from taking flash pictures at football stadiums though, does it? ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-just-amazes-me/482284/70 "2009-01-23T05:59:32Z")
Can’t help some people. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-just-amazes-me/482284/71 "2009-01-23T07:07:38Z")
> [@brewha](#): > > Reason: I currently have a microSD card up my nose. I had to test it. Did this make anyone else think of that thread where we were all stuffing our wedding rings in our noses to see if they fit? I probably have over 1,000 pictures of my cats (multiple cats, true) on my computer(s) and I don’t think that devalues them at all. What nonsense is that? It just gives me a much better chance of having some really good pictures. Cat in a cute position? Take 10 pictures from different angles, and chances are, one of them will be much better than the rest. Only take one picture every 100th time you see your cat do something cute? Probably not gonna have very many great pictures of your cat being cute. Plus I love going through my old pictures of my cats. I hate like hell that I only have a few pictures of the cats I grew up with. I also disagree with just about everything else that guy said, but I’m not going to go into it. I’m amazed by most technology. That we went from rubbing sticks together to this is incredible. I also freak out sometimes thinking about how much of what we have right now relies on people knowing stuff and teaching it to the next people, and on lots of people knowing little pieces of stuff which all gets put together (I doubt, for example, there is anyone alive who understands every step and process of how a computer works to the point that they could build one completely from scratch with no existing parts–or go even further, say they could do that with existing materials… could they do it in the middle of the wilderness? finding/mining/refining metals, creating plastics, etc, out of the raw materials of the Earth? Because that’s what we started with.)… Say for example that tomorrow, somehow everyone over 3 years old vanished from the planet, and somehow the under-3 children managed to survive to adulthood. They don’t know how to read, they don’t know how to operate anything… how long would it take to get back to where we are now? Even if they could figure out how to _use_ stuff… could they repair it? Make new ones? ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-just-amazes-me/482284/72 "2009-01-23T09:12:11Z")
**OpalCat** : That reminded me of this quote, from Arthur Koestler: > [@](#): > > Modern man lives isolated in his artificial environment, not because the artificial is evil as such, but because of his lack of comprehension of the forces which make it work- of the principles which relate his gadgets to the forces of nature, to the universal order. It is not central heating which makes his existence ‘unnatural,’ but his refusal to take an interest in the principles behind it. By being entirely dependent on science, yet closing his mind to it, he leads the life of an urban barbarian. Notice that Koestler (best known, if he is known at all, for his stirring anti-Totalitarian work _Darkness at Noon_) isn’t talking about a full comprehension. That is impossible given a limited human lifespan and aptitude (sorry, Bobby, but specialization is _inevitable_). He’s talking about taking an interest in the principles behind the machinery, simple intellectual curiosity. If I share anything with the Greens and other Environmentalists, it’s this: An uncritical acceptance of technology is just as evil as an uncritical rejection of it. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-just-amazes-me/482284/73 "2009-01-23T10:43:26Z")
Thanks for that quote, **Derleth**. It’s quite profound and crystalises a line of thinking that I’ve had but never quite been able to consolidate before. I’m surprised by your last sentence though because although I find a lot of common ground with the Greens, the one area I differ is in what I see as them having an inordinate degree of uncritical rejection of all things “unnatural”. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-just-amazes-me/482284/74 "2009-01-23T11:20:39Z")
I agree with all the technology (my first use of a computer was a University mainframe in 1972 which cost £500,000, took up an entire large room and sent your work back after running overnight!). For me the politics has been stunning: - the Berlin Wall coming down - Nelson Mandela being released - Barack Obama winning the election ---
**Author:** ![willthekittensurvive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/91b2a8/32.png) [@willthekittensurvive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/willthekittensurvive)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-just-amazes-me/482284/75 "2009-01-23T11:59:26Z")
I can check out satellite imagery of rain clouds in my area in almost real-time (5 min delay) on my mobile phone. Whats next? Calling orbital bombardments with my cellphone? ---
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-just-amazes-me/482284/76 "2009-01-23T13:59:16Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > It’s intersting how people THINK technology has changed them. Oh don’t get me wrong on some levels it has brought meaningful differences but most are only inflated ideas in your mind. > > Sure you have a cell phone. But what are you using it for? Nothing really, I can virutally guarantee it. Instead of making a grocery list, you go to the store and phone your husband to read off what we need. Instead of making plans and actually making an attempt to BE there, we play it by ear. Now we don’t teach our children how to behave because we cell phone them and check in on them 40 times a day. > > I think it’s amazing how technology has made everyone feel they are the center of the universe. When I would do time studies I found people are less productive at work with more technology. Oh they work but they are using said technical advances for their own amusement. > > We have digital camera and I see people say I have 1000 photos of my cat. That’s nice but they ACTUALLY have A THOUSAND photos of their cat. That is stupid. All it does is devalue the individual photo. > > Look at music, I remember Jo Stafford saying, we’d cut an album in 90 minutes. You had better known the music and everything planned out in advance, 'cause you didn’t get a second chance. I listen to her or Dinah Shore and when they perform LIVE they sound very much like their records. I rarely hear a live performance of anyone that sounds close to their records. Why? 'Cause they cut the song 100 times and splice it. > > Techonology has taken away a large portion of our creativity. Instead of thinking and using our minds to create, we rely on machines or simple create by massive tries. This is not to say the creativity isn’t there, but it’s unused. > > I am not knocking technology, there are very good things. Electric lights, central heating, but the thing is look at what is TRULY used to improve your life, versus what is developed to occupy your time 'cause you’re bored. > > It’s a shame I look around and people can’t relate to the world around them anymore. Seconded. ---
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-just-amazes-me/482284/77 "2009-01-23T15:00:25Z")
Has the fact that things like listening to music or taking a picture have become quicker, easier and cheaper than ever before increased the amount of happiness or satisfaction people feel? Has it even increased the enjoyment out of the particular activity? I don’t think so. Listening to CDs on a home stereo system is different from listening to an Ipod, but is it less enjoyable? Has the technology answered our needs or just created new ones? A person used to being able to instantly pick a song out of 3000 at any one moment gets annoyed if that option becomes unavailable, whereas a person using older tech is happy to get to listen to a song they like even if it takes ten seconds or so (whoa!) to pick the song out of a CD shelf and load the CD player. I still listen to music the way I did when I first got into it, back in '85 or so. I sit down and listen, concentrated on what I hear. Having music on the go, thousands of songs at my disposal, would change things, but would it truly add anything meaningful to my life? Would I enjoy music more? Like a hero of mine once said, regarding pastime: "I can’t think of anything worth doing that’s quick and easy.“Having to” repeatedly listen to whole albums has given me many favorite songs I wouldn’t otherwise have heard enough to learn to appreciate. Anticipation is, in hindsight, often a very big part of pastime thrills. Using slow media gives one a whole lot more time to anticipate the good stuff, in the arts, communication etc. I’m just old (and ludditish) enough to vividly remember life before the internet, cellphones, mp3s, DVDs etc. Has my life become more enjoyable due to the changes in consumer electronics? No. Things like getting information on oddball interests has gotten easier, while the satisfaction of getting it has been watered down. People adapt to prevailing conditions yet aren’t happy for long, as long as new levels of technological bliss are on offer. Impatience is the biggest gift of it all, it seems. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-just-amazes-me/482284/78 "2009-01-23T15:09:51Z")
IMO some things were better before computers and cell phones, and some things weren’t. I think having 7,500+ songs on my iPod or computer greatly increased my musical interests. At first when MP3s started becoming available, I would pick and choose my favorite songs. But then I started finding greater satisfaction in getting entire albums in MP3 format and listening to the whole thing. Unless it’s a brainless pop group, there are usually tracks on an album as good as or better than ones you might hear on the radio. Also, having entire artist catalogs at your fingertips is so convenient. There’s a laziness factor, if I had to carry around CDs with me all the time or find them on the shelf, I wouldn’t listen to the variety of music I listen to now. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-just-amazes-me/482284/79 "2009-01-23T15:30:56Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > Buying Online - having anything _ANYTHING_ from anywhere show up on your doorstep the next morning at will still astounds me. _Oh Ho the Well Fargo wagon is a comin’!!!_ ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-just-amazes-me/482284/80 "2009-01-23T15:32:00Z")
What amazes me is there is still no cure for cancer, the cold or runs in my panty hose. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-just-amazes-me/482284.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-just-amazes-me/482284.md?page=5)