Some might say that technology while helpful is damaging interfering with our abilities to interact with others socially, prevents and even destroys our ability to understand one another without face to face recognition. But, I believe that mankind is capable of harnessing progress and technology by our own curiosity. We are an inquisitive and progressive species. We are ever evolving and ever digressing. For every two steps forward, we take one step backward in order to perfect our existence.
A few months ago a flood destroyed my only way in and out of our ranch to our home. I had just began a new job, filed for a divorce, and was sick on top of everything else. The workers had just begun to repair the damage a few days ago when we were inundated with 17 inches of rain completely destroying all of the unfinished work to my driveway. Thankfully, after experiencing the previous flood, I had parked at the gate and walked to my home in anticipation of an impassible driveway, a modest mile. On this muddy walk with my umbrella in one hand and a backpack stuffed full of recently purchased groceries my thoughts were surprisingly taken away from the present predicament by the brightly colored roots that had been stripped of the plain brown earth by the rushing waters revealing brightly colored oranges and reds, and the brilliant yellow leaves that were floating by in the newly formed streams in the middle of the half finished road. As I carefully tried to avoid the softer spots in the muddy road I removed the black umbrella from overhead and turned my face upward allowing the rain the pour onto my face. Watching the large droplets falling against the tall canopy of the tree branches above, I could not help to feel that this was a necessary part of life. It felt good to be covered in rain water and to hear the raindrops fall to the ground, to hear the sound of air being forced from the earth from the tiny holes insects had drilled with tiny explosive bubbles being magnified by the umbrella. I felt at peace with my world at this moment.
I actually look forward to crossing the overflowing bridge and getting my rain boots full of water. Maybe I am a glutton for punishment, or maybe I realize that the push for progress may be difficult with many obstacles ahead, but is it not better to keep pushing forward for progress and addressing the obstacles in advance if we can? But if we cannot foresee the obstacles in advance, be prepared to search for the obstacles and look forward to overcoming them as we find them as this is what the nature of progress is and this is how we continue to evolve? Technology has its many ills, but it has saved many lives and will continue to progress by those whose curiosity pushes them to act and move forward.
Hi Connie, first of all I was struck by your beautiful writing! Your description of walking home in the rain left me feeling like I was reading a lovely novel. I couldn’t quite put my finger on how you feel about technology but it seems like you appreciate the drawbacks while being very grateful for the benefits and optimistic about the future. I thinks it’s a good attitude to have and I agree with many of your statements.
It sounds like you are going through a difficult time in life and I celebrate your ability to nonetheless find joy in such a simple pleasure as walking in the rain. But I wonder if technology could have provided an equally satisfying experience. I think that we are spending too much time living in our heads instead of our bodies and your story is a wonderful example of how nourishing it can be to get out in nature and feel the wonder of the five senses. It’s so easy to take advantage of natural sights, smells, and sounds (especially in autumn), and the prevalence of devices is destroying people’s attention spans so that unless a stimuli is novel and fast and screen-based, it doesn’t attract attention.
I tend to have a more negative view of technology and I fear the direction that we’re headed in socially, however, your opinions made me reflect upon the gifts that I’ve taken for granted. For instance, my dad has Parkinson’s disease and literally can’t move at the end of every four-hour dose of dopamine, among many other medications. My gratitude for these medical advances is too profound and immense to ever put into words. So insights like that help balance some of my views, and your optimism gives me hope. Yet I’m scared that we’ve gotten away from ourselves in our quest and greed for bigger, faster, better, and there’s no end in sight. In that vein, our aims at developing artificial intelligence are perhaps the most frightening and dangerous possibilities, in addition to the fact that our digitized age makes our country extremely vulnerable to cyber-attacks that we’re not prepared for. One reason we’re able to go about our daily lives and not get too upset over these potentialities is that the media engages in agenda setting that can control the way we think about these different issues (Schneider, Gruman, & Coutts, 2012).
Interesting post and best of luck with everything!
References
Schneider, F. W., Gruman, J. A., & Coutts, L. M. (2012). Applied social psychology: Understanding and addressing social and practical problems. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.