[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
[at-l] Re: Perception - Cell Phones.
At 01:23 PM 1/17/2005 -0500, Steve Adams wrote:
>Jim,
>
>Reference your post, dated 1-14-05, where you ask, "Did hikers become more
>foolhardy as a result of the invention of the signal mirror or the whistle?
>What about the flare gun? Do owners of cars with On-Star drive more
>recklessly because they know that when they crash On-Star will call an
>ambulance? Did sailors first set out across the sea because the compass
>had been invented?"
>
>Your question implicitly asks, "Did ALL hikers become more foolhardy as a
>result of the invention of the signal mirror or the whistle?"
>
>This is not what I said. I hold that SOME hikers rely upon a cell phone
>and, as a consequence, foolishly accept too great a risk.
>
>To make your point, you need to assert the following propositions: No
>hiker ever became more foolhardy, relying on a signal mirror, a whistle,
>or a flare gun, and; no driver of a car with On-Star ever drove more
>recklessly, knowing if they crash On-Star will call an ambulance.
>
>If it became popular to flash the sun's reflection into people's eyes with
>signal mirrors, blow whistles in their ears, and shoot off flares
>throughout the day and night for non-emergency reasons, I would probably
>object to these practices along the Appalachian Trail.
>
>"On-Star" is marketed as a way to reduce our risk. Much of the
>justification for carrying cell phones is to reduce our risk.
>
>You advise, "Humans have always taken risks." ... And "... if life isn't
>an adventure it is just existence ..."
>
>If you want more than mere existence and to preserve a sense of
>adventurousness, leave your cell phone home.
>
>Steve
My point was simply that it a tool, nothing more. Anyone who takes a
foolish risk *because* they are carrying a cell phone would probably be
inclined to do so anyway. Anything can be abused but the phone is not the
problem.
FWIW I regularly leave the cell phone home because I forget to take it with
me. It just isn't part of my consciousness. We have it (and I try to
remember to take it when I travel) because it makes my wife feel better.
The phone is even in her name, not mine. Were it not for her I wouldn't bother.