Transcript and Vocabulary
The simple answers to the questions that get asked about every new technology:
- Will ______ make us all geniuses? No.
- Genius (n.) /ˈdʒiː.ni.əs/someone who is extremely intelligent or extremely good at doing something
- Will ______ make us all morons? No.
- Moron (n.) /ˈmɔːrɒn/a very stupid person
- Will ______ destroy whole industries? Yes.
- To destroy (v) /dɪˈstrɔɪ/ to damage something so badly that it cannot be used
- Industry (n) /ˈɪndəstri/ the companies and activities involved in the production of goods
- Will ______ make us more empathetic? No.
- Empathetic (adj.) to be able to understand how someone else feels
- Will ______ make us less caring? No.
- Will teens use ______ for sex? Yes.
- Teen (n.) /tiːn/teenager
- Were they going to have sex anyway? Yes.
- Will ______ destroy music? No.
- Will ______ destroy art? No.
- But can’t we go back to a time when …? No.
- Will ______ bring about world peace? No.
- Will ______ cause widespread alienation by creating a world of empty experiences? We are already alienated.
- Widespread (n.) /ˌwaɪdˈspred/ existing or happening in many places and/or among many people
- Alienation (n.) /ˌeɪ.li.əˈneɪ.ʃən/ the feeling that you have no connection with the people around you
- To alienate (v.) /ˈeɪliəneɪt/to make someone feel that they are different and do not belong to a group
Comments
If this comic is still unclear, try to replace the blanks ______ with the name of any new technology. For example, with “computers”, the questions would look like: Will computers make us all geniuses?
This comic strip criticizes the people who always discuss at great length the effect that some new technologies may have on the people (whenever something news is adopted by the population, many people often think that it will all make us geniuses or make us all become stupid, etc). With those simple questions and very clear answers (Yes or No!) the author is making strong claims about new technologies:
- New technologies will not make us more nor less smart.
- New technologies will have strong impact on industries.
- New technologies will not make us more nor less caring for other people.
- New technologies will destroy art.
- We cannot go back in time when we don’t use technologies.
Do you agree with those? Feel free to comments to express your views on these issues.
