Technology, Musings, Another Year

Luna's son gave me a copy of Time's 2005 end of year issue and it got me to thinking about vignettes from the past year. I was travelling back from Sequim on the Bainbridge Ferry the evening after Christmas. The air was crisp with wind and the scent of freshly fallen rain. The city lights shimmered on the water. The view of Seattle was breathtaking as always and I turned to speak to one of the other passengers next to me. A man was talking to his cellphone in Japanese, another was listening to an iPod at a volume I could feel several feet away. Perhaps its unreasonable to expect strangers to share a moment of inspiration, but still I was given pause. As the ferry slipped by the Edgewater toward the dock I found myself wondering about the world technology has created around us. Are we still in control? Is it all as benign as we once believed? I'm not so sure anymore.

There was a time when we in this industry believed the Internet would usher in a period of universal harmony and communication. We would begin to rise above our history of brutality and war, learning to listen to each other and appreciate our diverse points of view. But something funny happened on the way to the forum. Technology has made it easier to stay in touch, but it has also insulated us from the world around us. In our comfortable cocoon we can hide from our families and even from ourselves. We selectively filter content to satisfy preconceived opinions. We are online all the time, available for the demands of work but not to our inner life. We tease ourselves into believing we have more free time even as it shrinks around us into a sea of dissonate chatter. Is it any wonder recent studies have said college graduates are increasingly illiterate, unable to read and analyze books in the depth required by the modern world? Paris Hilton is our new goddess, her face mirroring our own culture as icons always do.

So 2005 is fading and a new year arises with its new share of opportunities. No doubt there will also be a fresh crop of disasters, hopefully none so grave as Katrina and her ilk. And once again we have the choice to use our tools wisely or foolishly. This year I have no grand promises and increasingly fewer illusions. But I plan to turn off the volume on a regular basis and listen to the voice within. And perhaps also to the voices of those around me.

Thanks for listening