Category: #Reflections / Мисли

WHY WAS OUR LIFE BETTER WITHOUT MODERN TECHNOLOGIES?

(Or could we survive without the mobile phone, the computer and the microwave?)

It seems our life was better without modern technologies because it was simpler. And simple, they say, is just next door to genius. We could argue even further – simple suggests emptiness, which, in turn, suggests freedom.

There is hardly a living person on earth – men and women alike, who would deny that their mobiles tend to enslave them. Remember that sunny Sunday when you were having pancakes with your family, and your boss decided to ask where “that file” was? Or the summer holiday when you were sunbathing, a cocktail in your hand, and the office rang you to come back urgently? Didn’t you dream of the sweet moment when your phone will be out of range, or even better – lost in the deep sea beyond salvage?

How many a businessmen have gone diving in the azure sunny bays taking their mobiles along, in the vain and wild hope they would feed them to the sharks? And you thought Mr. Big Shot was actually showing off with his state-of-the-art PDA, hurriedly asking the steward to tuck it away in a totally useless plastic case he had purchased at a sleek shop on 5^th Avenue for a fortune after seeing the advertisement assuring him that the case was completely waterproof! Well, you had better think twice! That gentleman is most probably dying to lose it (or diving, as it were), but needs to appease his consciousness, too. Thus – the fuss. Unfortunately, thanks to the diligently helpful steward the nefarious device is safe. Again. For now. Later, the steward would wonder how come Mr. Big Shot never gave him any tip.

Even without being big shots, we have all come to realise that having a mobile phone shouldn’t mean we are on duty 24/7. Or at disposal, for that matter. Unfortunately, more often than not, it does.

Do you remember when you first heard the word “computer” and learned its meaning? Oh, that surely was a brave new world. We believed so much good would be achieved through computers. Yet, it somehow got twisted. Come on, admit it – when was the last time you actually helped make the world a better place using your computer? How many good deeds have you accomplished, as compared to how many games of solitaire? Not to mention the more complex games, which constitute a whole industry in themselves, requiring better, faster and more expensive computers, designed for the main purpose of … gaming. Not exactly saving the world, is it?

When there were no computer games, children still played, as most of us remember. All we needed were friends, toys, and playgrounds. Now, we have a whole cluster of industries around playing games – each of them requiring and pre-conditioning the existence of another one. Make no mistake. We are being immersed in “modernity” in order to keep spending – money, time, energy, you name it. The gaming software industry requires better parameters in computers, faster Internet connection, and safer virtual environment. Safety requires better protection – both by means of more software and a new branch of law enforcement, especially dealing with copyright protection and online abuse risk. In simple words, it means now we need highly-qualified computer-competent police officers to protect our children at play. Of course, that calls for new legislation and so on – the list continues. And all that – to enable children play online chess with their next-door neighbours! Or chat with their sister in the attic!

Most likely, we could survive without modern technologies. After all, we still remember how to do things the old way. Yet, apart from survival, there is little else we could do without them. Notwithstanding our attitude, reality has changed, and so has humanity… for better, or worse.