I struggle to keep up. It seems to
me that every day there’s a chicer iPhone, a funnier website, or a gorier video
game. Perhaps it’s my incompetence with technology, but I - for some mystical
reason – never seem to discover these delicacies of the modern age until the
current of their apparent ubiquity drags me into the mainstream. When my
parents asked me about memes a few years ago and I didn’t have an answer, I was
terrified (my parents had started
hearing about something and I still wasn’t sure what it was?!). Aside from my
eternal pursuit (and frustrating behind-ness) of the technological band-wagon, I
feel conflicted. While class videos, dystopian authors and luddites make me
wary with their incessant warnings of the dangers of the screened life, a part
of me cannot help but long for a greater role in the brainchild of my
generation.
I rarely
remember lines from movies and books, but Nick Carraway’s comment from Gatsby is the closest thing I’ve ever
come to finding a prayer. As he experiences the debauchery of downtown New
York, Nick eloquently reflects that he feels, “within and without,
simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life.” As
I think about my relationship to technology, this quote springs to mind. I feel
enthralled, driven, possessed even by the power of technology. I’m hooked by
the sexiness of Googleglass, the modernity of SIGHT systems, and the humanity
of robotics. I am fascinated by the advancement and intellectual improvement of
our species. We always innovate. We always create. For example, we now have
telescopes with such a high degree of magnification that we can actually see
over 13.6 billion years into the past. Research has shown that our human genes
can store digital data in as much capacity as to store yottabytes of
information (1024 bytes). If I want to learn about bees, I can watch
a TED talk recording by the world’s leading entomologist Marla Spivak with just
a few clicks. This is tip of the iceberg, and this is awesome. To me, technology is
the “project of humanity” addressed in Steve Fullers TED talk, and I am a part of
it. I am within.
But I fear
what it will do. After reading Carr’s article Is Google Making Us Stupid?, I became painfully aware of my own
faults. In the past I have noticed not always being able to focus for long
stretches on a novel. Now, however, knowing that my inability to do so might be
as a result of my technological lifestyle, I am afraid. Sedentary lifestyles are
increasing. E-waste is accumulating. The humans in WALL-E have lost bone
structure because of their obesity. The televisions in Bendito the Machine II
possess and destroy aboriginal society. A man actually hacks a human woman in
SIGHT. Are these dystopian predictions really all that far removed from the
truth? Will this be the result of our commitment to human ingenuity? I do not
know, and have only become more uncertain through class discussion. I am
without.
What scares
me above all is the effect technology has on my desires. I want the power of a Smartphone. I want to experience the world through Googleglass. I want to watch Sail Cat.
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| Taken from Reddit.com |
I mostly agree
with Nick Carraway. It’s an indubitably exciting and terrifying Brave New
World. My question: is it really inexhaustible? Obviously there are pros and
cons to our technological propensities, but since I lack certainty, for now I
am content to live just a step behind my classmates.
Charlie- The phrase, "the current of their apparent ubiquity drags me into the mainstream" is just one of the great lines in this post. Your writing stands out and the thinking does, too. You adapt the Gatsby quote well, and pose both personal passions and fears across the technological landscape. And of course, our desires for the glossy baubles of technology, like our desires for most anything seem insatiable. A fabulous post.
ReplyDeleteCharlie, this is incredibly well written. It's at the same time formal and relate-able, which just makes me want to keep reading. The conflict you outline in yourself as you think more deeply about the progress of technology and how it effects you is what most draws me in, it helps the blog feel true to you and makes it personal to me as a reader. The Gatsby quote works well, as do the rest of the references to books or videos from this class and last semester. At the same time, you slip in enough humor to make it fun. To quote John, "A fabulous post."
ReplyDelete