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Think about our ancestors. The human species first appeared, and we probably behaved like apes – like animals. But there had to come a point where we changed, from animals into people. We would start creating things the world had never seen before – shelter, weapons, art, etc. This would happen in conjunction with the rise of language and communities. These people would be behaving like modern humans, rather than like animals.
So who were the first modern humans? In Europe at least, they are known as the Aurignacians…
Here at HowStuffWorks.com, we value education. Our own mission is to satisfy curiosity and share knowledge with our readers and listeners. It’s not an exaggeration to say that I’ve learned something new every day that I’ve worked here. And as the son of two teachers, I’ve witnessed how educators constantly look for new ways to reach students. One of those ways is through the use of technology.
The New York Times has an interesting piece about a group of scientists, most of whom specialize in psychology or neuroscience, who went on a week-long camping trip to discuss how technology affects the way we behave and think. To say that technology can have an adverse effect on how we process thought is grossly oversimplifying the issue. But the piece raises a question many have asked in the past: Are we letting technology ruin our ability to think?
How long does a new technology last in the modern world? The CD only lasted (as a mainstream technology) for 2 decades before its replacement (MP3 files) came along. DVDs may have an even shorter life before streaming video replaces them. The analog TV lasted less than a century, as did the CRT screen. They have been replaced by digital TV and a combination of LCD, Plasma, DLP and OLED technologies. The internal combustion engine has had a pretty good run, but keep in mind that the Model T was invented a century ago.
But if you are looking for record breaking runs in the area of technology endurance, it appears that the laced leather shoe is up there near the top of the list, as seen here…
Conscious Machines and Medieval Technology on TechStuff
by Jonathan Strickland | April 16, 2010
This week’s episodes of TechStuff gazed into the future and peered into the past. In one episode we pontificated about machines with consciousness and in the other we talked about what passed for high-tech in 1510. Read more about what we had to say on the subjects.
This morning, I’m recovering from walking the massive show floor at the 2010 Consumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas, Nev. I’ll be heading back out for day two in a couple of hours. While I’ve only seen a fraction of what the show has to offer, several trends are already noticeable.
Most of the trends come as little surprise. We knew that tablet computers would be popular (though there aren’t as many on the show floor as I had expected). Amazon’s success with the Kindle pretty much guaranteed we’d see more e-readers this year. Netbooks have a strong presence again. As far as televisions go, it seems everyone has 3-D and Internet-capable sets to show off. And technology that either lets you pretend to play music or actually teaches you how to play is huge.
Wow, what a week. Remind me never to talk about Canada again. And remind Chris too. We received some mail from irritated listeners after the episodes this week. I think most of it has to do with a simple misunderstanding — but we’ll get to that in a minute. First I’d like to mention that I’ll be traveling to Los Angeles next week to cover the E3 conference. I’ll be blogging from the conference and uploading stories to this blog, so stay tuned next week for the latest gaming news!
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