Question from a 9yo boy, why did we invent technology, computer or phone screen, that hurts our eyes?

[Anonymous]

Updates

10 mo

A 9yo bold is now asleep.

Good night 🌙

Updates

10 mo

Ummm, bold... boy then.

[DishLady]

Ah! See? Smart kid. I was just talking about that yesterday. LONG AGO when our parents used to tell us to back up from the TV everyone LITERALLY KNEW that the light from the screen was bad for our eyes... and then some morons gradually generated a screen-dependent universe in which we don't even seem to exist offline... Hmm. I bet you they all had their noses glued to the boobtube as kids.

[Asker]

A smart kid indeed 😌

[DryGermanGuy]

Back in those day, the TVs were cathode-ray tubes, though. With actual radiation.

[DishLady]

@DryGermanGuy Yeah and today they tell us not to park our phones near our bodies because... ?

[DryGermanGuy]

Those warnings have not been relevant for years - they came from the times of first and second generation mobile phones which emitted with high wattage, to get a stable connection to a radio tower. With mobile phone stations and repeaters everywhere and 4th/5th generation devices, this problem has almost completely gone away.

[DishLady]

@DryGermanGuy My IT and Engineering friends still don't keep their phones anywhere near the "family jewels" so I trust their judgement.

[DryGermanGuy]

Of course, less radiation is always better. But I remember mobile phone calls in the 1990s when after a longer call you had the feeling your head might glow in the dark. Those days are long gone, thankfully.

[DishLady]

@DryGermanGuy Oh, that's when only rich people had them, lol. I didn't start looking at them till early 2000s (after my kids were in school and i needed to be reached by the school etc.).

[VIVANT]

Without this advanced technology, we wouldn’t have life-saving operations that heal the eyes that get damaged by this advanced technology.

[Asker]

A 9yo boy smiled and said: "okay"

Side note, I am not sure he registered fully the extent of your witty answer 😂

[VIVANT]

It’s ok bc even without the joke—we do rely heavily on technology for innovative life saving treatment that simply was not possible in earlier times.

Good night good boy 🌖

[VIVANT]

lol good not good I mean maybe good? But I was just taking what I was told at face value 🙃

[Asker]

A 9yo boy is sleeping, please 🤫

[VIVANT]

The why isn’t so relevant now bc the box has been opened.

What matters is what it is used for going forward and there are problems concerning good vs evil but technology presents great opportunity for good … whether it is exploited or not.

[Asker]

A 9yo old boy is looking at a screen so I'm answering instead:

You seem pretty optimistic here about technology, it's surprising me, in the context of your first witty answer. Great opportunity for good you say, it's funny because I heard of the opposite view a lot, in intellectual circles. In these circles, tech progress is more a sort of evil we can't stop, we can keep on a leash
IF
IF
If we are strong and smart enough to conceive the good leash.

[NathanDavis]

was going to say what @VIVANT said but I could have not said it any better

have these kids made a call yet... why did we invent a phone to make calls with such bad audio call quality...

[Asker]

And yet, I remember when I heard audio quality of smartphones for the first time, it was a greaaaaat improvement over dumbphones !

[NathanDavis]

do recommend me that phone... or carrier

because on mine, I can still hear Bell

[Asker]

That carrier doesn't exist by you lol, my phone is a realme 8

[NathanDavis]

Doesn't Exist... by You...

sounds more like a perfume but okay... I'll look it up

[Asker]

It's one of these low end budget giant phones with a phat battery life. It's very cool for what it does, 130€ something, it's the equivalent of 100 kilograms of pasta, or 390 bananas

[NathanDavis]

would that be home made pasta or...

[goaded]

They only hurt if you look at them too long, and passive displays don't even do that. Go out and play instead.

[Asker]

@goaded
A 9yo boy is surprised by your answer, he asks you what are those passive displays. He also was nonplussed by your suggestion to go out and play.

[goaded]

I have children. They climbed trees, explored their environment, dug holes (I still haven't filled one of them in, it'll probably kill me one of these days!).

[Asker]

A 9yo boy is shrugging.

[goaded]

This is a very odd conversation.

[Asker]

Hehe, well, you said you have kids so is it really surprising? 😂

[HusamRocks]

It wasn't made to hurt your eyes, but to make our life easier, and of course it has side effects if you used it wrong 👍🏻

[Asker]

@husamrocks
Okay, a 9yo boy now asks you why we didn't invent the same technology but without the eyes hurting part?

[HusamRocks]

Because that is what humans can achieve for the moment and they are working on improving it 👍🏻

[Asker]

A 9yo boy smiled and said: "okay"

[HusamRocks]

Glad to help 😁

[alice55]

It was first invented for War purpose so I doubt they cared much about hurting people eyes since they invent weapons of mass destruction...

After I don't remember which purpose the screen used to have at the begining of their invention but I remember it was for war / military purpose (and I had one of my teacher saying this is why giving money to the military is good...)

[Asker]

That's interesting, but... Sorry, Alice, a 9yo boy fell asleep.

[alice55]

Next time then you could tell him if it still interest him xD

[Asker]

Maybe...
Maybe.

[alice55]

I mean the true story is maybe not so appropriate for a child I guess

[Asker]

Ummm i'd say it's okay, he's aware of nuclear weapons and he's overall familiar, on a basic level, with war

[Asker]

A 9yo boy tells you that it's logical then, if it's about war then we don't care about eyes, it's normal

[CupcakeTheDestroyer]

Because we didn’t know that it would, at the time. The research for it didn’t exist.

[Asker]

I'm sorry, a 9yo boy is now asleep.

[Asker]

A 9yo boy tells you: "Fine, but now, we can think about it, right?"

[CupcakeTheDestroyer]

Yes, and there are undoubtedly people working on it, but it’s not something that’s going to be done quickly and easily. Just like how fossil fuels gave us cars and a lot of modern technology, switching to renewable energy sources (that we didn’t know of at the time we discovered fossil fuels) and electric cars is going to be a long process for us as a nation, let alone for the entire world.

[Asker]

A 9yo boy smiled and said: "Okay"

[msc545]

Because it saves us a lot of time. Imagine how much time we would waste if we actually had to print everything that we see on screens or televisions in general.

[Asker]

A 9yo boy tells you that you didn't answer his question, as he asked you about the hurting part

[msc545]

See eye doctor.

[jshm2]

LOL, it doesn't. Your eyes are just weak, is all. Install a blue light app on your phone, and don't use it as often.

[Asker]

A 9yo boy tells you he has no phone and he can't install new apps. He is forbidden to do so

[wynning]

Good question lad, think of it this way I guess the inventors forgot to think and say "wait...

[Asker]

A 9yo boy didn't really understand your answer, he looked at me, puzzled 😂

The problem lies in your "wait..." I believe, because even I, am not sure what you meant, so my translation suffered as a consequence lol

[wynning]

Task failed successfully...

[Asker]

[wynning]

I think I could make this work verbally but I guess that doesn't translate well in writing as I had hoped lol

[Asker]

It's still possible to write an alternate version, for this universe

[wynning]

Seems like the short and sweet ones get to his skull best... 💀 hasn't he had enough of this shit though lol

[Asker]

I'll be honest, it's been 24hrs, yes, he's onto something else now 😂

[wynning]

I just. Realised. My entire answer that I had typed painstakingly out is not in the opinion! That explains everything I’m so sad now

[wynning]

It just says “wait…” ☠️

[wynning]

Christ on a bike

[Asker]

Ah yes, you've encountered the bug that truncates answers, that's why I ceased using the mobile app, this glitch is super common. Browser version doesn't feature this glitch, but there's another one instead lol, answers do not always get registered even though it looks like they are after validation.

Honestly, I'm copying any answer I write before sending because I have like 20% chances it doesn't register and gets wiped

[Asker]

Also, what, Christ on a bike? Why? Why is he riding?
Oh, on a pike you mean? No, hmm I don't know

On a hike!

That's it, hike

[Dongie]

Maybe some day somebody will perfect our screens and they will be user friendly.

[Asker]

A 9yo boy smiled and said: "okay"

[DrPepper12]

Tools /weapons. All depends on the user & I tent

[Asker]

You tent? okay, I don't judge !