“Technological progress is like an axe in the hands of a pathological criminal….”
(Albert Einstein)
“Many people see technology as the problem behind the so-called digital divide; others see it as the solution. Technology is neither. It must operate in conjunction with business, economic, political, and social systems….”
(Carly Fiorina)
“We've arranged a civilization in which most crucial elements
profoundly depend on science and technology….”
(Carl Sagan)
(Carl Sagan)
“Technology is a way of organizing the universe so
that man doesn't have to experience it….”
(Max Frisch)
About four years ago (or more, i can’t remember for sure), i foreran a movement. i didn’t know i was a forerunner, mind You, but such is not altogether unusual to hear people who know me tell it. The movement has become known lately as the “unplugged” movement, and it includes people who have decided to “unplug” themselves from at least some of the technological devices which have become commonplace in our society.
my own journey toward balancing the insanely mesmerizing technologies available to us was a mix of circumstances somewhat forced upon me and somewhat discovered after looking intensely for the right calibration. i lost my mobile phone, and i didn’t want to become the person i was watching many other mobile-phone users become. my wife worked for a mobile phone company, and everyone she knew who worked there (and, therefore, many people i knew by proxy) were not addicted to their mobile phones. Addicted would indicate a choice and possibly a level of what might otherwise be considered normal functioning that would be attached to and most likely adversely impacted by the usage. No, no. This is way worse than that….
i’m talking about otherwise normal, rational, and often highly intelligent & capable people who would take a chance on killing someone by texting as they drove on the interstate or – worse – the small, residential street on their way home from their corporate job at dusk…who would go through entire lunches with their colleagues while on the phone and never once acknowledge the waiter (often someone else ordered for them) or engage with who else was at lunch with them…who would use so many minutes that it would dwarf the largest plan sizes…who ceased to use any other form of computer…who would become so oblivious to those around them in public that they would sometimes lose their children. No, i’m not kidding….
Now, i’m all for technology. i’m a musician, a writer, a researcher, a theologian, a philosopher, and other roles. Technology has made most of those jobs easier, and it’s made better the ones it hasn’t made easier. i like technology, and i embrace much of it. However, here’s the problem with technology: the user. As my dad used to tell me, it involves “operator problems.”
Guns don’t kill people – people kill people. Cars don’t drive drunk – people drive drunk. Computers don’t sabotage nations – people working for nations or terrorists sabotage electrical grids and national security databases and such. Televisions don’t watch pornography – people watch it. It’s the same with mobile phones, digital music players, etc. i get that, and i’m not saying anything different.
However, i am concerned about the cultural impact of embracing technology. Recently, due to the recession, i was listening to an economist discuss why this particular recession has had such a drastic impact on retirement savings, career options, home values & the attached lack of geographical mobility, and other sub-factors. He made a very astute observation: the last depression (the Great Depression) occurred in a time when people still knew how to basically take care of themselves and were allowed to do it. This recession that is bordering on a depression (the latest job figures are that the real unemployment rate is either at or above 20%, according to government figures, and that still doesn’t include underemployment) is occurring during a period of American culture where very few people know how to farm. Unlike the Great Depression, people can’t just go out back and plant food to eat later – they don’t know how to do that. They don’t have those skills. However, even if they did have those skills, in some instances they could not use them. Municipalities don’t allow You to have Your own water supply or septic systems or to just not use electricity or garbage collection services.
In college, i learned (as a math major) to graph on computers and to use calculators for complex calculations. Also, my professors (at a leading math school in Texas) required me to use calculators to “check” easy calculations, too. i wasn’t allowed to just do the multiplication in my head. i understand the reasoning. They wanted engineering students to be used to checking everything on a calculator before signing off on a civil project and certifying that a particular bridge was going to actually hold the load required by the transportation department. However, now i know adults who were part of that generation who can’t quickly and without paper tell You what 75 * 65 is or what pi is or how to figure a derivative in less than 5 seconds. Before calculators, most people could tell You those things as a part of “common sense.” Today, however, “common sense” is not so common anymore…
In the end, my problem with the use of technology is that people have let it master them, and yet they have failed to master it. And that – in sum – is the problem with any inanimate, mechanistic tool: will it master You by Your own choice as You give the enemy a foothold in Your Life?
Personally, i mostly find the investment of time, energy, and skill to master software programs or technological devices to be not worth the return. As a musician, i have chosen to master some skills that are, for others, just not important enough to merit such an investment of personal capital. It’s like that with everyone. However, there is another factor that is not so requisite.
i have chosen to quit eating with people unless they turn off their mobile phones. It dawned on me one day when i was watching football with a couple of friends who are in their twenties. They would watch the TV sometimes, but mostly they just watched their laptops for updates on their fantasy players. That day woke me up to the fact that the younger generations just simply don’t process information the way i do as a forty-year old male. i know hardly anyone under the age of 30 years who has a favorite football team, because they don’t watch football for the purpose of rooting for their favorite or hometown team. They watch, because it determines how their fantasy team fares. And, in that realization that they are much more interested and vested in the success of individuals than teams, is the basis of my rebellion against being completely consumed by technology.
So, why don’t i eat with people unless they turn off their mobile phones, You ask, and what does that have to do with fantasy football? What a fabulous question, and – since You asked – i’ll be glad to answer it for You. i don't eat with people unless they will turn off their mobile phones because they are worth too much and i have too much respect for myself. Let me explain....
It is now one of the highest goals of my Life to pay attention to people. i consider it a matter of great and substantial personal importance to me that people know i will grant them my undivided attention if they so desire.
Listening is the forgotten courtesy of our time. No one does it anymore. Pay attention? How can You pay attention if You can't even listen to someone? Invest? How can You invest in someone if You can't focus on them for more than 15 seconds before getting Your next email on Your PDA fix? Care about someone? How can You care about or for someone if You can't even be sensitive to discern what they are experiencing or how You might aid them due to Your lack of empathy as a divided-mind technocrat?
It is not annoying to not be able to pay attention to people; it is the result of being consumed by something from which You cannot break free. If that’s not You and You assert that You are not consumed to the point of not being able to break free and pay attention to people, then not paying attention when asked is annoying.
No comments:
Post a Comment