One of the things that gets cataloged here a lot are technological changes. How technology, specifically computer technology, has worked a change in my own daily life became abundantly clear to me this pat week. Frankly, I don't think all of the changes are universally good either, which may seem surprising for somebody who is running a blog.
Amishman, 1940s. The Amish are a well known North American religious group (Anabaptist) that have restricted their use of technology. Widely misunderstood, the religious concept at work has to do with the use of things that would reduce a human's humbleness and therefore their focus on devotion. As we become more and more technological, the more a person has to wonder if the Amish don't really have it right on at least recognizing that technology may offer, at some point, as many dangers as it does benefits.
For one thing, this is a new computer. This computer came about as I recently went from a Pentax K-x to a Pentax K-3. It's a great camera, but I'm frankly still learning how to use all of its features, and as it's a fairly complicated camera, I probably never will. Be that as it may, I like it. And part of the liking it is that not only can you take really good pictures with it, but you aren't leased to film, the way we were with earlier film cameras.
However, because of certain new features in it, it wouldn't work with my old computer, which was truly ancient. It was in the category of PC's that had an operating system that was supposed to be updated some time back, as it was no longer supported by Microsoft, but as it was working, and as computers are expensive, I didn't do it. Well, I finally had to as the software for the K-3 was not supported by the old operating system. So one technology lead to another.
That meant, for a variety of reasons, that I was without a home computer for about a week. That should have been no big deal, but it was oddly unsettling. This was, in no small part, because I've grown used to checking the computer early in the morning, when most of this stuff is written, and also checking it sometimes in the evening as well. In other words, I've become habituated to that, and anything you are habituated to you do in place of something else.
Indeed, anything that you are habituated to, you are dependent upon to some degree. I could easily live in a house with no television, and I only listen to the radio while in a car (although now I frequently listen to podcasts, which is another habituation) but the computer I really noticed not being here. Not good, in some ways.
Taking this further, last weekend I was in Denver. I'm not really keen on Denver, but I was there with my family and we went to REI, the big outdoor sports store. REI has a great store, and a great catalog. I first became acquainted with both through a college friend, who was a big outdoorsman (and still is). We went down to Denver, probably in 1983 or 84, and went to REI, which we did frequently thereafter.
At that time, REI was in one of the neighboring towns around Denver, not Denver proper, although where one begins and the other stops is questionable. Most people would have said we were in Denver. At any rate, it was in what had been built as a grocery store at the time, but it was amazing, or perceived that way in any event.
Now, REI is in Denver, in a trendy nice area near the aquarium, and it's new bigger store is in a building that had been built as a power plant a century ago. It's a nice store, but visiting it just doesn't have hte same excitement it once did. There may be a variety of reasons for that, including that I"m just older, but while there I texted (technology again) my old friend and noted that I was there, and that it just wasn't as exciting as it had been back when. He texted back that "the internet has ruined the experience".
Spacious interior of the current REI outlet in Denver.
I hadn't thought of that, but I really think he's right. It has. Not completely, but partially.
Now, when you want something, there's none of the sense of scarcity of the item or the wonderment in finding it. In a way, of course, that's good. But at the same time, there was something sweet about finding what you wanted, or even what you liked but didn't know you wanted, and which was difficult to get. The effort, or just the surprise, meant something. Now, that's all gone. In its place, we look up everything on the net and know its whereabouts right away. Again, that's not universally bad by any means, but it has given us a false sense of super abundance that makes us less appreciative of anything we have or seek to acquire. That would include, I feel, even the acquisition of knowledge, as now we just "Google it".
While in Denver, as I have several times recently, we made frequent use of the Google Maps navigation feature which allows for voice directions. This is a nifty feature, but I've found its had a direct impact on my sense of place and direction, both of which have always been very good.
I've always been able to navigate my way around any place, including any city, simply by looking at maps and mentally planning a route. Now, because of Google Maps, I frequently don't, just having my Iphone do the work. I've found that this has actually messed significantly with my sense of place and direction, as when I depart from it, I don't have a real good sense of where I am. Usually, if I go to a place once, I know how to get there, but now it would seem this is less certain. I don't like it.
Fortunately I can get back to normal simply by not using it, but it was disturbing to see how very quickly I'd become acclimated to it. This is particularly disturbing as I feel that this is one of the many technological things that has the impact of taking us a bit further from the natural world, really, which as I noted the other day has the impact of creating a world that's contrary to our natures.
All in all, while technology definitely has its benefits, I do question if we can reach the point where it's overall detrimental to us. Indeed, I think we may have already done that. We don't have a really good history of self restraint. Most of us will not take the view of the Amishmen, and it risks making us less in tune with where we are, or even who we are. Indeed, an entire younger generations doesn't notice where they are or who they are with at any one time, as their heads are buried in their phones. This trend is not only negative, but to paraphrase from Pogo, we have met the enemy, and its our technology. Not completely, yet, but partially.
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