Recently in Technology vs. Humans Category

In the comical movie, "Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian" historical museum exhibits come to life during the overnight hours. Theodore Roosevelt (Robin Williams) and Napoleon Bonaparte (Alain Chabat) wake up and move as night watchman Larry Daley (Ben Stiller) and Amelia Earhart (Amy Adams) try to protect legendary characters from being boxed up and replaced by new, hologram exhibits.

 

During their quest to keep the figures alive, the couple receives a riddle that must be solved. They immediately run to the "Thinker" (no actor name; just animated stone) to see if the famous statue -- sitting on a rock in deep thought, resting his chin in his hand -- could think through to the solution.

 

When I watched this part of the movie, my mind wandered: who sits and thinks anymore?

 

The artist Auguste Rodin created The Thinker (a.k.a., The Poet) during a time when people had to rely more on their own intellect and meditation to solve problems. The Internet didn't tell them what to do, global information wasn't instantly available, and a device for every problem didn't exist.

 

Contemplation is not extinct, but it is getting rare, and its scarcity only hurts our quality of life. The Internet is not always right nor is the information pertinent or devices useful. In the museum, the Thinker was of no help; he was stuck in thinking mode. But in life, taking the time to ponder can be the difference between finding a meaningful path and one that is a whirl of senseless activity.

 

No man-made hologram can replace the beauty and wonderment that is our own experience, but we will never see that unless we take the time to sit on a rock and think about it.

The recent gift-buying season proved just how difficult it is to select a present for someone who has no hobbies. It's easy to find a new project for a model-building enthusiast, a book for the avid reader, or warm clothes for the skier, but when it comes to the people who spend their time on the couch watching television, they need only one thing: a new hobby.

In my opinion, TV watching does NOT qualify as a hobby. Neither does Internet surfing. These activities help to pass the time, but they rarely challenge your brain or motor skills. Meanwhile, lots of American's are filling their down time with these artificial hobbies. A real hobby creates excitement or rallies someone to action. It turns empty time into something that has been built or envisioned or an action that improves with practice.

I suppose video games must be accepted as a hobby since they do meet these standards, but I believe that a bonafide hobby is one that can be done even when the lights go out.

If you don't have a hobby, you are missing out on a great part of life. Finding one can be as easy as asking your friends and co-workers what they do for fun or paging through the local paper's advertisements to see what catches your fancy.

My life would be dull without my piano-playing hobby. And it also helps the gift-giver since they can always find something for me at the music store.

Warning: A computer can cause you to forget how to think for yourself -- if you let it.

I remember the day when I could spell, back when I used to have to open a dictionary. I was never good at math, but I at least I knew my multiplication tables well enough to keep score through a dart game. And while my fingers can still zoom around a keyboard, in the age prior to a computer keyboard's delete button, I used be able to type at least one sentence without making a mistake.
 
The computer and the calculator are quietly taking over basic skills that I worked hard to master, and it's all because I am allowing my brain to become lazy.

But the trend can be reversed with corrective measures.

Since a freelance writer needs precise word usage to communicate, I've started picking up a dictionary once again. I have observed that I am slowly regaining my ability to spell without the aid of spellcheck. I prefer my hardcover Merriam-Webster to an online dictionary because there is nothing like holding the word in your hand and focusing on it in print. The end result of taking the time to look up a word is that I can see it in my memory and spell it correctly when I need to.

After just a few months, my spellcheck is working less and my brain is working more.

Besides, the computer is not always right.  Take for instance the time I didn't react quickly enough before sending an email on which spellcheck changed Rodney's name to Rodent. It was a darn good thing Rodney is a friend and not a client.

So, I strongly believe that skills can and deserve to be recaptured and refined, it just takes a little conscious effort.

What skills would you like to regain? How do you plan to prevent lazy brain?



 

After a year of parking their utility trucks on my local streets, Verizon Fios is aggressively promoted their newly installed fiber optic service.  I've been shredding their glossy mailings about once a week while laughing at the comical television ads which admittedly make Verizon competitors look like slackers. Despite the service improvements, that fact remains that I want less TV in my life, not more.

The current offer is something like a TV + internet + home phone bundle for $80-$100 month.  I cannot get an estimate of what my residence would cost until I divulge my phone number. I'm already getting a mailing a week. What's going to happen when they find out I was interested enough to request a quote? I already know that the advertised deals beat my current land line ($30/month), high speed internet ($20/month) and minimum-channel, standard cable ($20/month) bills especially when I compare my measly 22 channels to their 200, or when I factor in the speed of their fiber optic internet service.

But the point remains that I also have a closet full of board games, a stack of challenging jigsaw puzzles, a bookcase stuffed with books, and a phonebook filled with names, all sitting unplayed, unsolved, unread, and uncalled. And after a mentally long day's work, I already fight the temptation to let my brain sink into the "boob tube."  That fight is not going to get any easier with 10 times the number of tempting channels.

And maybe the $100 advertised price does beat my piecemeal utility service bills, I can only imagine the true cost once the special is over, the fees are added, and I've lost valuable time figuring out how to reconnect my old DVD player.

Do you have Verizon's fios service?  Are you happy you switched?  Why or why not? 

It's a popular argument that technology has isolated us. Particularly, I hear parents complain that their kids spend too much time sitting alone on the internet or texting messages through their phone.

What we forget is that those messages are often describing where the next gathering is. Kids (and adults) are finding out from the internet who is in town and where the next event is taking place. They are planning out where they can participate in face-to-face "parties."

We are social creatures thus we crave social interaction. Technology does not devalue this human experience, it coordinates it. The key is to treasure the moments together and appreciate the human touch when it happens, as it happens. 

Are you worried that we are going to lose the human touch?