The way of the world today

[LONDONER]

Unfortunately almost everyone is addicted to taking low quality photographs of inconsequential subjects. Note the old lady in black in the front row.

[MikeW]

Have you read the Phaedrus, [MENTION=18457]LONDONER[/MENTION]?

In it Socrates relates a tale of ancient Egypt:

Soc. I have heard a tradition of the ancients, whether true or not they only know; although if we had found the truth ourselves, do you think that we should care much about the opinions of men?

Phaedr. Your question needs no answer; but I wish that you would tell me what you say that you have heard.

Soc. At the Egyptian city of Naucratis, there was a famous old god, whose name was Theuth; the bird which is called the Ibis is sacred to him, and he was the inventor of many arts, such as arithmetic and calculation and geometry and astronomy and draughts and dice, but his great discovery was the use of letters. Now in those days the god Thamus was the king of the whole country of Egypt; and he dwelt in that great city of Upper Egypt which the Hellenes call Egyptian Thebes, and the god himself is called by them Ammon. To him came Theuth and showed his inventions, desiring that the other Egyptians might be allowed to have the benefit of them; he enumerated them, and Thamus enquired about their several uses, and praised some of them and censured others, as he approved or disapproved of them. It would take a long time to repeat all that Thamus said to Theuth in praise or blame of the various arts. But when they came to letters, This, said Theuth, will make the Egyptians wiser and give them better memories; it is a specific both for the memory and for the wit. Thamus replied: O most ingenious Theuth, the parent or inventor of an art is not always the best judge of the utility or inutility of his own inventions to the users of them. And in this instance, you who are the father of letters, from a paternal love of your own children have been led to attribute to them a quality which they cannot have; for this discovery of yours will create forgetfulness in the learners' souls, because they will not use their memories; they will trust to the external written characters and not remember of themselves. The specific which you have discovered is an aid not to memory, but to reminiscence, and you give your disciples not truth, but only the semblance of truth; they will be hearers of many things and will have learned nothing; they will appear to be omniscient and will generally know nothing; they will be tiresome company, having the show of wisdom without the reality.

[East]

Unfortunately almost everyone is addicted to taking low quality photographs of inconsequential subjects. Note the old lady in black in the front row.

I think there are less than 10 photos of me in existence...same with my BF. I am the opposite of these guys..complete opposite. I don't know how to use my camera on my phone and have no desire to learn.
I would never take a photo of anyone I didn't know (or even ones I know) for any reason..it seems so invasive to me.

I HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE when people pull out their phones to show me crap.....

[Edward]

Well, I've seen even old people doing this, so...

[Camfer]

I don't know how to use my camera on my phone and have no desire to learn.

I can think of one reason it is worth knowing how to take a photo with your phone, and that is documenting a traffic accident.

This past summer I was involved in a 1 mph collision in a parking lot. I took a lot of pictures after the incident. A few weeks later I got a call from my insurance company that the opposing party was claiming physical injuries. It was an absurd insurance fraud on his part. If I had not taken those pictures on my phone, it would have been a case of his word against mine. My pictures clearly demonstrated the impossibility of his claim. I won not because of what I said, but because what I said had visual documentary evidence to prove it.