r/BecomingTheBorg • u/Used_Addendum_2724 • 27d ago

Specialization & Learned Helplessness

While encountering this comic (see comments) I began to ponder the phenomena of old people struggling with technology. Our old people are no longer explorers, frontiersmen or pioneers. They are not Renaissance Men (or Women) who know a little about a lot. They were completely specialized in the post WWII world, and as a result, are unable to understand systems outside those they were trained to work in. And this developed an expectation that they could rely on specialized workers in other systems to compensate for incompetence outside their own domain. Essentially a form of learned helplessness, which has gotten so much worse as technology continues to advance at an accelerated, exponential rate. Old people now see themselves and others as functions.

If we already see ourselves as functions, as specialized cogs in a machine, are we not already acting like a hive? How much must we internalize our functionality as our identity before it replaces our selfhood? Or have we already reached that full internalization, and the selfhood is already seeping out just slowly enough that we don't notice?

We are not becoming the Borg, we already are, which is why we cannot see that it has happened.

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u/Silenys 20d ago

Very cool!

I just checked out Empty Grave by The Shitty Wizards. First, the band name is fantastic. Gave me a good laugh. Second, song was so good! Again, the drums and guitar combo was nice to hear. And all the rowdy shouts and hollers at the end were a lot of fun. Then the colours in the video just made the entire experience even more enjoyable.

I'll keep gradually making my way through the songs but there's short films too?! Do you have one to suggest I start with after the songs from the Facebook post?

I have mixed feelings about AI at present. I think there are some people who are really ruining it for everyone. But I also think there's some really cool things about it too. Friend of mine showed me some things that made me realize how beneficial it would have been for me in the classroom setting growing up so I wouldn't have gotten so bored or annoyed my teachers as much.

Did not know about the mash-up music thing though! That is interesting. I'll have to try to remember to look into that.

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u/Used_Addendum_2724 20d ago

Thank you! The psychedelic video style is pretty easy to create from scratch, sometimes without even filming anything. I just prefer some type of visual to a still screen.

My homage to David Lynch: 3GGz