The case of eternal computing
2021-07-19

Through perpetually rising dependance on technological
miracles, the computer addict has since evolved and interbred
into the average denizen of western society.  Gone are the
days of denegenative television anchors cursing the younglings
for their obsessive relationship with digital screens, since
with the progression of time and further advances of
technology even they became enamored by the ever present
pocket computers that have revealed their addictive mechanisms
to all but those who willingly and laboriously form the
avantgard of backwardism.

The illustrated life of a computer addict goes to portray the
average western person as a well-adjusted soul with access to
a seemingly unchecked tap of information in its pocket - a
very romantic perception on its own, in which mankind has
evolved above the struggle for survival and became a
technocratic civilization of demi-gods.  But this Nietzchean
perspective is flawed.  Some would gladly proclaim that the
age of progress has reached a point, where none ought be
denied access to personal computing and the demi-godness in
shape of a rectangular computer boasting access to the
internet as a universal right for all the breathing peoples,
but as is natural with any opinion birthed in the minds of
men, the utopic surreality of flawless cyber civilization
breeds the opposing thought of villainy - the pervasive
thought of inherent evil within progress of any kind.  The
steam engine ruined lives of paddlers all over the world just
as the internet will eventually reduce the majority of human
activity to monitors.  It is therefore understandable why our
age sees the resurgence of socialistic thought, as it is
becoming more and more obvious that we as humanity find
ourselves on the path that ultimately leads to the
unemployment of milions on account of our collective
betterment - due to there not being a need for human work
anymore in various fields that stand to be replaced by
automatisation.


The Old Computer Challenge sought to test aging hardware
against the needs of a modern person.  Clearly it has become
apparent that the growing technological advances and the
greediness of capitalism renders the hardware of yesterday
obsolete at an expontential rate without any need to tie a
512MB cinder block around one's ankle.  Surely one could find
individuals, who'd praise the Old Computer Challenge with
laurels of admiration as they shake their heads and exclaim:
"I couldn't do it!" just as surely one could find those, who'd
shrug their shoulders and present you with a list of 10
commands, saying: "this is all we had in 83', challenge
yourself to survive with ed alone." While my first Old
Computer Challenge post did open with my relation to
self-flagellation, it's important to note that it was not my
aim to perceive the challenge as a punishment or a 'see what
it was like 10, 15, 250 years ago,' or to complain about the
business practices of the proverbial 'Big Tech,' or the
despairing state of the bloated internet, but rather as a
probe into the commonplace time-wasting activities and their
compulsivity.

Most notable factor throughout the reports of the challengees
was the instinctive desire for stimulation through media,
notably video watching.  'How to stream videos on hardware
that won't handle modern browsers' was a pervasive topic.
This alone would be enough to rile up the backwardists with
various envangelical symbols around their necks with
proclamations of doomed future generations and the enslavement
of human kind to technology.  A point which does ring
plausibly, lest one forgets the basal human instict - the
universal desire for satisfaction.  Only the most naive would
opose the reality that describes the founding stone of
civilization and all of human life as the act of procreation,
while the remainder of our time is spent either avoiding said
fact through the aforementioned time-wasting activities, that
we may forget the animalistic purpose of our existence, or
through work and self betterment in order to raise the
prospect of better or more sexual partners.

It is not the fault of the computer, which stands behind the
seeming degeneration of man.  In fact, one comes to realise,
there is no degeneration at all.  Much like the television or
books once did, the act of preoccuping the mind with arbitrary
problem solving or chemical stimulation only evolves along the
technological progress to shield the common man from the
reality of human experience - the enslavement not to films,
gaming or music, but to the sexual libido.  People don't read
as much not because they are reduced to mindless drones, but
because technology has presented more accesible alternatives
for casual time-wasting.  Although perhaps jokingly, a point
was raised during the challenge in the IRC space in regards to
using insufficient hardware: 'What about porn?' While coated
in satire, it presents the fundamentality of human relation
with the every day struggle nonetheless.

The Old Computer Challenge only reminds us of the fast pace by
which technology advances and aims to consume every
individual, despite their skill to operate computers.  One
does not need to be a prodigal child to get by with a single
core processor and two sticks of 256MB of RAM in 2021, as long
as they know their way around.  You could come across people
cursing their state of mind, along with other unsatisfactory
traits, when comparing themselves to the past.  However, very
little has changed in the grander scheme.  Curse not the state
of your concetration - turns out technology made it that you
do not need it anymore.

Tune in next time to find out how your lust benefits the
well-being of humanity.

Praha, červenec 2021

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