What technology makes us forget about.

Hello Everyone!

I'm one of Prof. Cathy Davidson's students from the course she was teaching this past semester. I'm not quite sure how well this blog post will be received, but on a technological forum such this, I felt that the following was appropriate. I should start first by saying that I am a huge geek/nerd and a lover of all things technological. It was only after a semester of thinking about the internet, the global consciousness, computers, and technology that I began to reminisce about what life was like before these concepts.

There was a time when I could call myself an avid reader. There was a time when, every night, I would sit down in an easy chair, take out 5 or 6 books, and read them all before going to bed?. Yes, when I was?four years old I used to be quite fond of books. But lets be realistic, it was never very hard for me to read See Spot Run, The Cat in the Hat, & The Berenstein Bears. I used spend maybe 5 whole minutes reading a given book, and everything I wanted from it would be obtained. The plot learned, the satisfaction given,? I mean hey, they were mostly pictures anyway. But recently, the books of my age group seem to be getting much longer, and with their added length it takes a lot more time to read them. I'll admit that I watched Peter Jackson's movies before picking up Tolkien's mammoth of a book--the Lord of the Rings, but it wasn't really my dislike of reading that drove me away from Tolkein's novels? I simply reasoned that I could get the same fulfillment out of watching the movies, that I could get reading the books. 

In retrospect, I believe that we as a society embrace work-relieving technology. I remember a piece on CNN that claimed some 75% of high school students interviewed admitted to reading all their English textbooks in summary form on the internet. I don't think it's so bad that we as a society have developed all the "gadgets" that save us time and effort. But what are we losing by using these devices--the cliff notes, the segway scooter, the instant messager, wikipedia? I never think of any of these things in a negative context, but recently I wonder whether we as a society have duped ourselves into believing that all of our "gadgets" give us the same fulfillment that some effort-consuming tasks might. Cliff notes will never compare to reading an actual book, the segway cannot possibly replace the joy of a good walk, AIM will never be the same thing as talking face to face (although video chat comes pretty close),  and as for wikipedia? Well, let's just say that wikipedia doesn't always give complete or completely accurate information on anything. 

 I don't remember the last time I set foot in a library. I don't remember the last time I painted a picture. I don't remember the last time I built.... anything, really except for my computer. But all of these experiences are things that I remember taking so much pleasure in as a child. After a few sleepless nights writing final papers (and final blog posts), I wonder if the direction that civilization is going is the right one. As the poet, William Henry Davies put it, "What is this life if, full of care, we have no time to stand and stare?" I think he brings up a decent point.