About Technology

While my last posting was really more about Image generators listed on Flickr than Flickr tools I want to write now about technology in general a bit. Especially about the Luddites still laying low among us in the workplace and elsewhere.

It is obvious that technology can be overwhelming. Nothing original about that. The pressure to keep up, to do the latest, to have the latest, to provide the most service, to be open 24 hours. And remember that all this refers to the affluent societies. But I have to think that sometimes the Luddites have a point. Remembering that they are not devils out to bring down society, many of them are people who realize that Technology (with a capital T) has never learned the meaning of "Enough." Nor has the drive to make money by marketing this technology. And sometimes enough is enough. And yet the boosters of technology react so strongly when someone suggests a different path to happiness that doesn't involve all this stuff. And yes, vice versa I realize. It reminds one of the discussion by C. P. Snow in the late 1950s about the communication divide between scientists and artists. Lately I have been seeing more evidence of this divide between the supporters of all this technology (no matter what it is) and a few more skeptical individuals in the workplace. Do we really have all these incredible communication tools and yet have no respect for those who disagree?

Yes, we are a society under tremendous pressure to change and to follow the philosophy of "progress." But also remember that our progress has come with a price. You could make a list of hundreds of items- more stress, less quality leisure time, declining intelligence (math, geography, history), alienation, etc. etc. etc. So maybe those skeptical about the benefits of "progress" have a point. At least we can respectfully listen to them and then we can agree to disagree if need be. What we don't need is the "take no prisoners" model of communication. And I have seen it.

So maybe we can envison "progress" as a judicious use of machines so that they serve our happiness and not the companies making them for profit. Isn't a telephone already amazing without watching Dr. Zhivago on a 3 in. screen (cheap shot I know).

These random afternoon musings are not well thought out but you know how it is when you just sense something is wrong and you wonder why does it have to be this way. There is a SF short story called The Waverlies by Fredrick Brown (I believe- 1945) which tells of aliens who simply destroy the power used to run an out of control society. After a period of adjustment life becomes regional. Food is grown locally. Teachers become important. People perform plays, attend dances, and play acoustic instruments. Interesting to think about. Does that society have anything to teach us?

And yes I am aware of the irony of writing this on a powerful computer connected to a huge network. So I must be a Renaissance Luddite.

Thoughts on Flickr tools

Looking over the tools on Flickr I am astounded at the sheer number of them and how many cater to the ego of the user. Make a movie poster starring yourself! Create a trading card of yourself! Design a magazine cover featuring yourself! Make yourself a STAR! A SUPERSTAR! Meanwhile life goes on all around you. Stroking the ego of the potential consumer is certainly the path to getting more buy-in on newer technologly and systems. Always bigger and faster and better and more sophisticated and more expensive and oh by the way you need to replace everything you bought last year. There is a Circle of Life going on here that has to do with materialism and it's close cousin- consumerism. Up and up goes the spiral of technology until - the lights go out.

This is a bit extreme and I will admit that some of the tools promote positive communication among mostly priviledge people (those who can afford the technology and the time to interact with all these features) but it is all a bit overwhelming isn't it? Oh well, have fun and don't think about life passing you by.

Desert Picture in Jordan

Here is Lawrence of Arabia's other environment. The desert in the south of Jordan. He understood how beautiful the desert could be even during the rigors of the Arab Revolt.

Clouds Hill

I hope to travel to England with my family in 2009 and one of the places I hope to visit is Lawrence of Arabia's cottage Clouds Hill. How could history not come alive when we walk where Lawrence walked and look at the view that Lawrence saw before his fatal motorcycle accident. Lawrence used the cottage as a retreat and filled it with books and record albums. Not a bad idea in today's rush rush world.

Welcome to my blog

Libraries and lifelong learning go together.

But the interesting thing is how to do it. As a famous wicked witch once said- "these things must be done delicately."

Now for a slight detour, eh.

I myself feel that libraries are democratic institutions that use shared resources to benefit not only the community, but to support the more universal values of the Enlightenment and help people become educated, tolerant, and diverse human beings. This is one way that mankind gets off the dogmatic, uneducated, consumerist treadmill and escapes being clones who listen to the same things, read the same things, and think the same things. Clones who shelter themselves from ideas that challenge, music that stimulates, and films that expect them to be intelligent themselves.

And it is the librarians that have as their mission the job of running these institutions and selecting the materials that best support these goals. Yes, selecting based on knowledge of resources, on reviews, on the needs of the community, and on making the world a better place.

So lifelong learning is important but so is learning in order for mankind to survive the next few billion years until the sun swallows the earth. It would be nice if on the day before that event occurs someone got to watch Lawrence of Arabia, or experience a Shakespeare play, or even was able to finish "To Kill a Mockingbird."

Any other thoughts about libraries and the ultimate fate of mankind?