It's funny how much technoanxiety there is right now. Previous friends were all gung ho about facebook and smartphones and robots, but wanting those same things is quickly becoming a source of shame (in the case of smartphones, it already is/has been - first one to check their phone pays for the meal? Really?)
Similarly, in 2013, it became impossible to read about tech without seeing some current or tide of one of two groups:
1. The Singularists: People who generally believe we will approach a point where technology is completely unrecognizable to those who came before it. This in itself isn't a big deal, but the school of thought has drawn in a LOT of others who believe we are approaching a completely post scarcity world where all people are equal in resources and access thanks to technology. When asked what the point of a Human is in such a world, you'll get one of two general answers: "Humans will no longer be necessary, and we'll have time to pursue our hobbies (which the robots can do better anyway, so there's no point) or, worse, Skynet will decide we must die" and "Humans will transcend their mortal bodies within thirty years, either through uploading our consciousness or augmenting ourselves, and we will use this to remain powerful over ever-more-productive machines." I've watched post-scarcity post-er boys create a very real fear of technology (or at least its proponents) in average capitalist people who don't WANT a pure egalitarian society but rather one where every has some sort of role. They'd be right: capitalist society simply can't work with no or minimal scarcity. Even Captain Capitalist (what a blog) agrees.
2. The Technophobes: This is nothing new, but unlike Luddites of times past, today's technophobes are not purely worried about job loss. Instead, they're concerned over ephemeral things: the increasing shiftlessness, ennui, and pessimism brought on by extra introspection and mental exhaustion, the loss of Human "soul" thanks to obsolescence, the overall decline of love/marriage, etc etc etc. Technophobes I've listened to tend to be very extreme, maybe more extreme than your redneck uncle, advocating either a complete return to agrarian culture or the "prepper" lifestyle.
Both people are anxious about technology but in different ways. I've noticed those talking about technologically singularity tend to be very anxious about the coming years where we exponentially but asymptotically approach it. Technophobes don't seem to be concerned with specific "transition" years (30 is the common figure given by both groups) so much as the long-term loss of Human soul.
In a way, both are political as they talk about two different sides of the same issue, but it's not easy to divide them across USA liberal/conservative lines. Technophobes range from hippie (better join a commune before we run out of oil) to conservative (these damn kids screwin everything up) to libertarian (let's go off grid, live next to the river). Singularists definitely seem to be more liberal if only because the tie-in with post-scarcity thought has driven off capitalist thinkers.
We don't really need more -isms (singularism, survivalism), but like most (all?) -isms, they're living or preparing to live a specific lifestyle and advocating that lifestyle as Best, similar to but not exactly like religion.
I, personally, have fallen prey to the dichotomy, and landed on the side of the technophobes. That's why this is in the happy thread. Crazy as the above makes both parties sound, I'm sick of being on a screen all day (for work, school, play) and have found a way out. I'm now growing food to supplement an actual income and have a distant hope of being free from fiat money, maybe getting the skills to join a hippie commune or rural village where I can help provide for others from the land, using simple tools and the body I've been wasting >50% of in a chair or bed. Let the singularity come. Let the apocalypse happen. Hell, let nothing happen at all. We're all going to die anyway. It sounds stupid to write my belief like that, especially since most of the world is very dependent on technology, but I can see some peoples' attitudes already shifting in this direction. Bring it on!
Look forward to freeformschooler's future production of The Village, set in real life.