Part of this is because I lack an understanding about how things work. I don't even have the slightest amount of curiosity for the subject. This isn't such a big deal when your dad has an engineering degree - although living away from home makes it harder to get help when things won't work. I'm glad that someone cares about this stuff, otherwise our society would be hurtling even farther down the drain.
Most of the time, I like having technology around, even if the mechanics of it confuse me. After years of living with all this nonsense, I can't imagine surviving, permanently, without my computer, fast Internet access (something I missed dearly in Peru), T.V., fridge, microwave, etc. I must admit to loving automatic sinks and paper towel dispensers. Less germs!
On the other hand, I hate the automization of everything possible - toilets, doors, staplers (terrifying). I do, of course, make an exception to the doors thing for people with physical disabilities. But other than that, why do we waste our finite resources on this stuff? Electric can openers confuse and annoy me - they take the same amount of time as hand-crank ones, but don't leave the lid ever-so-slightly attached so you can drain the can. Electric mixers are the stuff of nightmares. I prefer using whisks. Again, same amount of time with a lot less worry.
Interestingly enough, Google image searches using such phrases as "evil electric mixer," "electric mixer menace" and "electric mixer DANGER" did not yield any helpful pictures. In fact, a good portion of the mixing devices shown were NOT electric. I did find this though:
I don't really know what the point of all this is. I guess I want to say that while some aspects of technology are good, some of them I'm either really ambivalent about or totally dislike. I may be very separate from American culture in my longing for a more tech-free life. I'd like to see us be more connected to nature/books/ spirituality/each other than to machines.
But who am I kidding? I spend most of my day inside using the technology that I complain about. Sure, sometimes I read or clean house or do non-computer related homework, but I doubt that makes up the majority of my time. The worst part is I know how bad being glued to a computer makes me feel.
Not today, though. Actually, this whole week I've been pretty good about leaving my computer off. I wasn't online at all on Wednesday, hardly got on this weekend and spent a lot of time reading books instead. I need to do this more often. Not relying on technology for constant entertainment makes me a much happier and headache free person. So, while I'm glad you're using technology to listen to me rant about it, I'd feel better (and you would too) if you turned your computer off and went on an adventure in a new book (because I admit to not being as in love with nature as I'd like).
Okay, so now I am inspired to:
ReplyDelete1. Change from once in a while internet free days to making a habit of a once a week internet free day (we'll see how that goes).
2. Finish my "This I Believe" essay. I started work on one quite a while back, but just never got it finished so I think maybe it's time to finish it. And maybe in finishing it I can clarify some things other than how much I dislike the constant intrusion of technology on my life.