This is not an urban myth, I swear.
Once upon a time there was a young man who liked to sleep with a revolver on his bedside table. What else does one need within arms length during the wee hours of the morning besides a loaded firearm? Nothing. Well nothing except a telephone. One night the telephone rings and, well, can you guess what happened next?
This little anecdote came to mind about five minutes after I ran across peak hour traffic to catch a tram I always miss while listening to my Ipod. I just happened to look to my right and notice an ambulance waiting at the stop lights on the other side of the road. Yeah, they will probably be coming back for me if I keep myself hooked up to this thing, I thought to myself.
The world's obsession with techonology - and its obsession with the promise that technology will make our lives better - makes me wonder. I mean back in the day when there were no cars and people lived in smaller communities and walked everywhere people must have spent a lot more time actually talking to each other and depending on each other. Cars, telephones, computers and the internet mean that a lot of people could earn money and buy stuff but spend the rest of their lives never having a meaningful conversation with anyone ever again. In the modern world I could be on a tram with a hundred people and everyone of us could be completely alone.
I am not saying that technology is evil and we should live go back to living in caves but, I dunno, it makes me wonder. Shouldn't meaningful relationships occupy a place of importance in our lives? Isn't this the thing that makes us happy?
P.S. – I am heading to Perth tomorrow for a wedding on Saturday. I plan to post something during the trip but, if the debauchery of what promises to be a complete and utter hootenanny gets the better of me, expect something after Monday with lots of photos.
Once upon a time there was a young man who liked to sleep with a revolver on his bedside table. What else does one need within arms length during the wee hours of the morning besides a loaded firearm? Nothing. Well nothing except a telephone. One night the telephone rings and, well, can you guess what happened next?
This little anecdote came to mind about five minutes after I ran across peak hour traffic to catch a tram I always miss while listening to my Ipod. I just happened to look to my right and notice an ambulance waiting at the stop lights on the other side of the road. Yeah, they will probably be coming back for me if I keep myself hooked up to this thing, I thought to myself.
The world's obsession with techonology - and its obsession with the promise that technology will make our lives better - makes me wonder. I mean back in the day when there were no cars and people lived in smaller communities and walked everywhere people must have spent a lot more time actually talking to each other and depending on each other. Cars, telephones, computers and the internet mean that a lot of people could earn money and buy stuff but spend the rest of their lives never having a meaningful conversation with anyone ever again. In the modern world I could be on a tram with a hundred people and everyone of us could be completely alone.
I am not saying that technology is evil and we should live go back to living in caves but, I dunno, it makes me wonder. Shouldn't meaningful relationships occupy a place of importance in our lives? Isn't this the thing that makes us happy?
P.S. – I am heading to Perth tomorrow for a wedding on Saturday. I plan to post something during the trip but, if the debauchery of what promises to be a complete and utter hootenanny gets the better of me, expect something after Monday with lots of photos.
3 comments:
I don't get it? He shot himself? How could you mistake the feel of a handgun and a phone reciever? Don't you have to pull a triger to make a gun shoot anyways? Am I thinking too much about this?
I am too scared to listen to anything while I'm walking, I've seen too many people almost get hit by buses and cars because they don't hear them coming, not to mention the fear of someone sneaking up and robbing/attacking me because I can't hear them coming.
You are right about the relationship thing, I know lots of technology can improve relationships (video chats for people far away from each other, email, texting, phonecalls and all) but taking time out to actually speak to those people in person when you have the chnace isn't really always valued as much as it should be. Conversations are awesome.
Tomes on the bookshelf? It's mostly videos and photo albums :)
As far as technology goes, I can't see the problem with anything that prevents me from having to talk to people on public transport. And if people *are* feeling like they're disconnected from one another, I think it's a bit too easy to just blame technology - what about working hours? or our choices of housing? or the way communities are set up? or how we go about building and maintaining friendships? I mean, our immersion in technology is an obvious sign of our priorities, but it's just one piece of the puzzle. And maybe it's more symptom than cause anyway - don't we use the internet, etc. to fill in the pauses when no one is around to talk to?
Jen - Physical interaction rocks. The problem is that it is so much easier to sit down with a machine than a person because there is no risk. A machine won't judge you, a machine won't argue with you. A machine won't pretend to be your friend and then gossip about you behind your back.
Someone one will prove it scientifically one day, but I reckon that you lose half your brain power when you walk into a room where there is a television. It really does rot your brain! (Or, perhaps it is just a bloke thing i.e. not being able to focus on two things at the same time.)
Mark - Dude, there is like one photo album and all the DVDs are highbrow stuff like The West Wing and Blackadder.
Yeah, people do make some strange lifestyle choices. The technology obsession is just one among many.
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