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Do you realize how much is driven by/directed to internet and technological gadget use? Technology keeps advancing at a frantic pace and before it can be fool-proofed is put on the market making past technology obsolete at an added cost to those trying to make the most of life if not just surviving on this planet.
Advancement is exciting. Finding new ways of doing things and reaching for the stars. But, in our efforts to reach those other planets...are we really just looking for ways to expand our consumption of space and resources?
Just look at PC dependancy alone. So many things are put online and encouraged to be seen/experienced. TV shows that once had time to give at least a little information about something--at least I think they did--now seem so tightly squeezed. They give you five seconds--enough to tempt the tongue--and then flash a website to get more info. When we give our time and energy to such things, we often come away feeling drained or suffocated ourselves. When something doesn't work, when cut off from files/internet, when formats change...don't you/we panick? People we chat with are left in wonder and may vanish without a trace while we are gone. Services we pay for/participate in keep running while we are unable to access accounts/cancel further costs(some may be accessible yet by phone).
I speak from witness and experience. And, I am just--as always--concerned about the future. If we cannot get a grip on our consumerism...if we cannot reduce waste and limit products/technology to what is first tested...if we put the dollar before the general concern for mankind and the environment(I will likely touch on this in other posts)...what grim and horrific sights might we be victim or willing slave to face? I hope we can all peaceably separate ourselves from such "conveniences" and imperfect obsessions...or at least find harmonious integration without loss of sanity or life force. You may not see it now...may be blind to it all...but it is all around you and has been lurking in the shadows. |
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Posted by brainstormer on 2008-01-27 16:58:43 | Rating: | Views: 118
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It's so interesting that you posted this. I have been reading a book by Dave Ramsey on money management and he recommends putting emergency money in the home that would carry you through at least a month in case of a national/international technical meltdown. I also wonder how much the world's networks can and will expand before it all comes crashing down. I've been teaching for a while and although I use technology to assist in instruction, I don't rely totally on it to organize and/or teach my lessons. The younger teachers often do. If the network goes down for a day or two, they panic. I'm sure I would have my share of separation anxiety from a technology driven society, but we survived when I was a kid without it. Maybe I could remember how to catch a firefly or would start writing hand written letters again. Both of which wouldn't hurt me a bit.
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Posted by cwzywbt
on 2008-01-27 18:38:25
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I think your ideas for substitution are optimistic but unlikely to work. By the time we get in so deep with accepting technology--just as we are first learning the negatives of landfill/resource abuse--we may not be able to find that childhood/past part of us again. Putting money aside in case of meltdown? Please, slow my heart. That smells of paranoia.
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Posted by brainstormer
on 2008-01-28 01:48:43
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I suppose there's a fine line between paranoia and preparedness. :)
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Posted by cwzywbt
on 2008-01-28 07:59:57
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Wow, I was just talking about this with my literature teacher. (we're working on Thoreau's Walden and this exact subject came up)
I think the scariest thing about technology is what we'll do to get the lastest and greatest of something. It's like a drug, you get addicted to technology and then suddenly you HAVE to have the lastest Alienware or you HAVE to have the newest HDTV.
I almost got sucked into this exact situation with the iPOD, I'm generally not a fan of Mac products, but the iPOD is forgiven. Anyways I needed a new iPOD because my old one was completely dead, now instead of taking my mom's iPOD, which she offered to me, I almost spent 400$ on an iPOD touch. I was so blinded by the technology and the status it would give me I didn't stop to think about the price.
Then I watched fight club, which is basically Thoreau's exact words and I came to my senses.
It's amazing how addicted we are to technology, though, that we can be blinded to how much it'll hurt us in the long run if we're not careful.
Like credit cards, people don't stop to think about how much fine print there is behind using a credit card and then just go spending like crazy with it...only to find themselves in serious debt that they can't pay off.
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Posted by AcidRayne
on 2008-01-29 21:55:25
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Such profound words from someone so young:P--probably cuz yer right at that HIP age when everything commercial is big...like the 80s were for toy/toon pushing. Although, I am not sure you grasped the nail on the head, Acid. And, don't you think this IPOD biz is a sham?? It seems people are replacing $200-400 IPODS faster than we had to replace a $30 radio/boombox/headset not too long ago. I'd call it a rip off if your IPOD doesn't last you for as long as you are alive unless you literally break it. Screw that. I don't need it. I'll get a cheaper MP3:P Or just use the IPOD at home with stereo speakers.
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Posted by brainstormer
on 2008-01-29 22:13:57
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