The Technological Age

This is something I have been meaning to rant about for a while, and I apologize for my lack of updates. I tend to sit down and write one of these when inspiration strikes, and sadly, inspiration is elusive and difficult to keep a hold on, and then once you have a tight grasp of it, it is easy to forget how important it is to utilize it. Once you have that inspiration, it seems to flow so easily that you (or, at least, I) no longer appreciate how rare and fleeting it is that you forget to remind yourself to sit down at the computer/pen and paper/whatever materials you use to create and turn that inspiration into something tangible. But I digress.

Many refer to this past decade, which could also be referred to as the new century or, hell, even the new millennium, as the technological age. It is true that technology has not only been improved, but it has also become more available to everyday folk, as well as something that people use in their daily lives. The majority of new gadgets have almost made instruments such as analog clocks or watches null and void, and I know of some who no longer have home phones because they consider it an extra expense, what with their cell phones always being close at hand. People are using kindles and iPads in replacement of books (this is one of the most reprehensible atrocities committed by technology, in my opinion, but I will get to that later). Cell phones are kept on one's person at all times, in many cases, and text messaging (or texting) has become a widespread phenomenon. And, of course, it is commonplace for somebody to have a laptop, perhaps even somebody as young as six.

Don't get me wrong, progress is a positive thing. It is healthy for humans to improve and alter lifestyles in order to prevent monotony in the world, or at least have some control over what breaks the monotony. Technology is helpful, convenient, useful, and solves problems in the blink of an eye, problems that eons ago might have taken hours or weeks to resolve. Encyclopedias collect dust on old bookshelves because of the tantalizing availability of Google. But what we must be careful about is that such advanced technology causes as many problems as it solves.

I reflect on the amount of technology I use throughout my day and ponder whether or not I am too dependent on it. I always have a book that I'm continuously reading in order to ensure that I am constantly drinking up some form of new knowledge. Otherwise I would get bored, and I would end up occupying my time with something far less productive and that would rot my brain (and there are a good trillion of websites out there that serve this very purpose. While fun and amusing, they tend to cater to those with short attention spans and often cause nothing more than a cheap, quick laugh). Therefore, books are important (I am currently reading Elements of Style by William Strunk and E.B. White. It is a slow read, but informative and provides an interesting viewpoint on the mechanics of writing). Books also prevent me from getting lost in the virtual world and keep me grounded on earth, bound to material things that I can feel for myself. An iPad or kindle may be convenient, but they cannot supply the reader with the pleasant texture of the pages and binding, the satisfying thump one hears when they close a book, or, of course, the seductive scent of the paper as you allow the words to soak in.

Anyhow, I am careful to watch how much technology I use. I used to be an obsessive internet user. I would find different websites of varying points of interest and become addicted to them, one at a time, moving on to the next one whenever I got bored. Not only was this unhealthy, as is any addiction, but it made me a slave to technology. One minor slip-up, such as a power outage, an accidental deletion of data, or the computer running out of battery would drive me crazy. Remaining in one spot for so long and wearing out my eyes by staring at a screen made me more privy to irritability and impatience. Nowadays, I have set aside my partiality to the internet in favor of more productive pastimes (although not all my pastimes are as productive as I would like them to be, which I will get to in a moment). I rarely get online, except for purposes such as this, and when I'm not using the internet for the computer, I'm using it to write.

But I don't want to become too dependent on technology. If you dropped a book off a cliff, someone waiting at the bottom of the cliff would be able to read it, because all it did was land on the ground with a sharp smack. The words are still there. The pages did not vanish upon impact, since they are made out of a tangible substance and not data. Whereas if you drop a computer, or a kindle, or mostly anything electronic, one crash to the ground and everything is gone. An immense amount of information is forever deleted with the snap of a finger. This is why we must not rely on technology too heavily. Always have a physical back-up in addition to, say, saving a file on a USB drive. Otherwise you might regret it.

There are some habits I am still working on shaking off. When I am on the internet and the page is taking far too long to load (read: more than three seconds), I start to get restless. The immediacy that technology brings us has shortened our attention spans and whittled away at our patience. Think back to when people had to churn their own butter for hours at a time, until their arms were sore, and even then, there was hardly any result. Were they to live in modern times, they would complain far less. In fact, I'm sure they would consider this living the life of luxury. Which, if you think about it, we do. We have so much handed to us and often take for granted that life is about working toward things, not expecting results without any more effort than clicking a button. One activity that I still take part in is video games, seeing as how they have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. Video games are fun, albeit not very productive, but be sure to limit your time on them and please, please do not depend on them for your happiness. Also, do not let them deprive you of imagination. Think of when you were young and ideas for games (though they may seem primitive when compared to video games, but they are games nonetheless) popped up in your mind without having to think too hard about it. It was because you were a child, you were playing a game, and you did not fear criticism of your work or the scrutiny of your playmates. Video gamers seem to forget this. They complain if they do not like a game's battle style enough, or if the graphics are not "advanced" enough. I say quit whining and use your imagination. You have one for a reason.

That's all I have to say on the subject at the moment. I could go on and on about it, but if I attempted to opine on every aspect of the subject, this entry would never end.

Oh. I forgot to mention that I finished my second novel a couple of weeks ago. I am having loved ones read it and give me feedback, and then I will start the editing process for it. Bye for now.

-Morgan

Categories: literature, reading, the modern world