I am a "street sociologist" of sorts and I wonder....  

I am with you my friend. You can put me in your small minority group as I can survive with next to nothing.

I am 55 and from the old school. Calculators did not exist when I was at school.

For the last year... I have been living in the Australian bush... 60 kilometres from the nearest town... with a 26kbps internet connection.

We are in the worse drought on record with next to no water.

What you are talking about is not news. It has been like this for the last 20 years. Did you know that wineries have a computer program these days to make their wine? The idea was to put the formula in the computer so that the wine would be made exactly the same way every year.

Now... to come back to your subject... if we ever have World War 3... nobody will want to fight because it is not politically correct to kill people. No one should die in a war. And if your country gets invaded... you just welcome them and have a drink to celebrate.

Lets not forget that we are dealing with people who knows nothing about war and take everything for granted. We will need World War 3 in order to put some sense back in people brains.

There is no doubt that the governments needed a system to keep track of 6 billion people. And thanks to Bill Gates... they got it. Governments have some of the biggest computers in the world and we are all in it.

This is one of my hobby-horse subjects. I am convinced after studying American, and Corporation policy over the past five years, that global Corporate domination, (which is independent of national priorities,) is the goal. We are all consumers first and citizens somewhere lower down the the list of attributes. If you are not a class1 consumer you will find yourself at some disadvantages compared to your "betters". The more of a consumer you are, the more you are locked in to the technological machine.
Crocodile Dundee types and those of us who still remember mental arithmetic will be increasingly alienated by this trend. The discussion you have ignited is a very big one, it deserves to take off. I suspect our younger readers will care less.

yes I do accept to your view, but education is not the only thing that gives knowledge.Its were u get it so that u can improve ur thinking power. Its just an platform to stand not to depend on it completely.

I completely agree with you.

I went to a smaller movie theater a few years ago that didn't have a big fancy cash register I guess... You could buy your snacks at the same register where you bought your tickets. The poor kid behind the counter had to ask a co-worker and then bust out a calculator to figure out the change from a $20 bill for 2 $5 early show tickets plus a $2.50 soda and a $3.50 popcorn.

Here in my home state, the problem is that no one wants to hurt anyone's feelings. The schools give kids a certificate for completing high school if they don't manage to make state minimum requirements to actually get a diploma.

As for your survival scenario... I think many people who did know what to do would be in trouble because they'd be far out numbered by those who don't.

I would say that it's justifiable to use technologies in our daily lives. If we don't use the technologies, why did we even invent them in the first place? Maybe simple calculation like 30+50 can be easily solved using simple pen and paper approach, but how about calculations that involve sine, tangents, factorials, and similar things? Do it with hands? That would take a long long time. It's all about efficiency and productivity, to get things done efficiently. Civilizations would just fall and would not advance if everyone is having the mentally of not accepting new technologies and discoveries. They will be stuck at stone age, farming and fishing and hunting with rocks and spears.
=)

Yep. Pretty soon a few corporations will own everything and the government will cooperate with them to controll everything. They havwe already tried to control water. Bolivia, Peru Or Equador, I am not sure. But the government tried to make even the collection of rain water illegal in order to force the people to buy water from the provider which was owned or run by the government. Can you imagine? The people protested , the protests grew and grew until the government backed off and water is "free" again.

I'm taking this personally! I could never make calculations out of the top of my head, I was actually a bit ashamed of this, but I had good grades at math (except for the last year, I hated the subject and it was useless to me anyway) and at everything else. I am not an idiot, just because I am not good with numbers.

Not taking it personally anymore, people wouldn't be able to survive in the situation you described because they are idiots, but because technological fields are highly specialized these days. Science, tecnology and most fields of knowledge are too complex for a single person to know ALL there is to know about them. People have to cooperate in teams to achieve results. I do feel sorry for not knowing things like building an engine. But if I wanted to learn how to build one, it wouldn't be very difficult. It's just that I would only be able to build a very rudimentary model, and not a jet engine to propel a plane. That requires many people, with different kinds of expertise.

I live along the Ohio River, right between many major power plants, so this is something that I also give a great deal of thought to.
Would I personally be able or even want to survive? I sincerely doubt it.
We have prepared for our family in case of this event but how do I know for sure that our preparations have been enough?
And in addition to your worries about math, let me add my worst fear; and that is our future generation's ability to read and write proper English. I use the word English because I don't know if it is as bad in other countries as it is in ours, but when I see some of the posts in here or on other groups, when I see text messages and instant messages, and see all of the abbreviated speech it makes me literally sick to my stomach. ~Donna

I think I'd adapt quite quickly but there are people who can do much better than I. Well done.

I might be able to make it. I didn't have a calculater or computer when I was in school. I was raised in the world before most of this tech stuff was invented.

You make a good point about the government wanting to create drones. If they allow to many people to start thinking for themselves, they become threatened. They hold their power by creating a mindless citizen who accepts whatever drivel the government supplies.

I don't worry about my survival. I don't want to worry about anything. I am impressed with your thinking and mind process. I beleive that you are one who thinks for them self. It is always adventerous to keep an open mind and arrive at your own conclusions. Nice subject...intellectually.