It’s January, and there is snow in my backyard. Life slows down a bit, and I find myself involved in cleaning and organizing projects. There is no significant flurry of activity like the Holiday month of December. Relax. Take time to reflect and renew.
In Las Vegas, however, there is the big Consumer Electronics Show, where huge corporations annually roll out their latest inventions and devices. These newest creations are touted as making our lives easier and making everything more convenient for us. Today I saw cars that park themselves, drive themselves, and warm up themselves. I witnessed refrigerators that can be accessed from your phone while you are away; now you can check to see if you need more milk while you are at the grocery store. There are washers and dryers that can notify you when your laundry is done. The Smart House has everything to make it possible for you to check all issues from wherever you are. Virtual doormen, stoves that turn on and off by phone apps, and freezer doors that open with a wave of your foot(in case you are actually carrying frozen food and your arms are full).
Now I do admire the ingenuity that has devised all this technology, but I have a couple questions.
- What are the folks of the future going to do with all the time these inventions save them?
- Will the future generations ever have to remember anything?
Perhaps the time saved by not making grocery lists will allow people to watch more episodes of “Keeping Up with the Kardashians”. Maybe the extra moments garnered from not having to go to the laundry room to check and see if the wash is ready to be put into the dryer will give them time to see how many “likes” they got on their facebook posts. Possibly the minutes they gained from not having to turn on and warm up their vehicle will permit them the opportunity to text more emojis to their friends.
If every detail of daily life is accessible through technology, will there be any reason for anyone to memorize or retain information in the future? Will the parts of the brain that have been traditionally used for remembering just atrophy? What kind of people will the human race become without the need to practice times tables, commit to memory their best friends’ phone numbers, recite Hamlet’s soliloquies, or know the capitals of all 50 States?
Being discontent with the direction of popular culture might be the definition of “old”. Complaining about the way things are done as compared with how they were done might be another definition of “old age”.
9×7=63…8×6=48…239-481-0178….207-892-1670…207-854-1320…818-720-7798.”whether ’til nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune”…. Augusta, Jacksonville, Sacramento, Juneau, Boston.
Now I am going to finish putting away the Xmas ornaments and wrap, and get that closet organized. Later I will go to the supermarket with my list.I will probably have to open the refrigerator myself to check and see what we might need.I also have to go to the Bank to deposit some checks and ask a few questions about my account. Doing it old school.
So, all you who agree with me….let’s see a show of hands…c’mon..raise ’em up. Oh, your bursitis is bothering you? I hear you.
BarbaraBeardsley.com 
Spot on, my friend!
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