Okay, this seems like a weird question to ask on a cyberpunk board, but do anti-technology primitivists and minimalists have a point? I was reading Reinhold Messner, the greatest mountaineer in history, and he complains about the excessive use of technology (expansion bolts, drills etc.) taking the challenge out of mountaineering. Why bother finding a route with some junk home made equipment when you can drill a line of bolts straight up to the peak? Mount Everest was once a trophy for elite climbers, it was dangerous and few people ever reached the summit. Today, it's become a tourist mountain with more and more novices and paying clients being carried up by sherpas and guides. More and more yuppies and CEOs have summited Everest to the point it's taken away the mountain's mystic aura and a summit certificate is mere proof of how wealthy you are. The impossible has been murdered, and we no longer value skill or bravery or have any real sense of achievement beyond collecting certificates or humble brag on social media. I don't want to believe machines are to blame for this or that we should run back to the forest and live like monke, but maybe I'm just brainwashed? Has our obsession with making things easier and more efficient gone too far? Are machines solely to blame for this? Is there a way we can fix this?