Saturday, August 18, 2012

technological revolution

we are all part of the technological revolution. whether we want to be or not. sure. life in many ways is a lot easier. but not all the changes are good. personally i think that in terms of technology the continuous improvement of  what we use and have is tremendous. yet. what are we giving up. what are we sacrificing. i was again reminded whilst on an local flight the last couple of days. everybody sitting with their Samsung tablets and apple iPads. nobody reads books anymore. very little interaction between people. four people sitting at a table in the airport. two on iPads. one speaking on the phone. and the last one operation a piece of electronic equipment i have never seen before in my life. call me old school. call me a purist. yet i think this revolution is killing the basic skills of people world wide. youngsters can't spell or do basic math. people are less committed to appointments because it is so easy to send a quick text or email saying that you wont be making it anymore. it has become a cop-out. people don't write journals. they have become bloggers. (i do both - thus i guess that makes me at least half-guilty). but the reading thing really gets me. a 50-something year-old man next to me on the airplane was playing a game that looked like it was designed for a 10 year-old. he did so for the complete duration of the flight. in which time (i can boast) i nearly finished my Hemingway book (reading it for the third time and it still inspires me). i am worried that a complete medium of literature will be lost to the next generation. i am by no stretch of the imagination claiming to be a literature fundy. but the inspiration that i tap from reading is unmatched. the process of escape and being absorbed by the reading must surely be more fun than blasting bubbles or chasing cats on a computer game. or perhaps in time i will catch on. i hope not. cause i find so much pleasure in being inspired by legendary writers such as Hemingway. perhaps not his lifestyle and/or morals. but certainly his appetite for living life to the full. now i ask you. how can you find that in a computer game. it is not only computer games. but the watching of movies. this medium of the media truly frightens me. i can count on one hand  the number of proper movies worth watching of the past five years.as with most other revolutions that have come and gone the current techno revolution will definitely leave its scars. of that i am certain. the same way the industrial revolution changed the way of our every day-to-day. so our lives are changing around us. are you taking notice? i challenge you. what are you sacrificing? going to the movies on a weekly basis does not constitute a relationship. less TV and more time with the kids. less internet and more conversation with your wife. switching off your phone when spending time with friends. perhaps i AM old school. but we have lots our common decency and basic respect. perhaps one of the greatest unprotested sacrifices of our time? that is the price we pay for comfort and our own laziness. i am not against the use of technology. i am just very cautious as to how it is changing the world around us.

1 comment:

Ray said...

I've been inspired by your blog... trying to write one/find my own voice. This post really resonated with me. If you don't mind me asking, what is your age? if you do mind me asking, which I totally understand...have you written any books/articles/ are you a writer?