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Essays on Wisdom
(Nov./Dec. 2008)
Increasing the value of the individual, and indirectly, humanity.
For the past ten or more years there has been a debate occurring on college/university campuses throughout
North America, Europe, and other continents that basically involves the question as to whether high technology in general,
and the invention of the Internet specifically, is and will have a positive impact on humanity and/or individual cultures
over the long term. This debate is seldom covered by mainstream media sources.
So what does the worldwide web do for
any particular society that some or many individuals would consider positive? The big picture involves allowing almost any
nation's military forces to achieve complete situational awareness on the battlefield in a matter of minutes rather than
hours or days, and all the way down to the average middle-class working individual who can complete shopping/banking tasks
in sometimes a matter of seconds or minutes, versus hours perhaps spent at a shopping mall. And everything in between.
To summarize, one could say that the Internet brings convenience and speed to an individual's lifestyle. More tasks
can be performed in a single day.
However, this new lifestyle created and adopted by many over the past ten to fifteen
years replaces a previous, or older lifestyle. This older lifestyle in which the Internet was not a part of supported behaviors
that are found less and less throughout the industrialized nations today. While there are some exceptions and variants, the
difference between today's lifestyle for many and the lifestyle that it has replaced can be outlined rather easily: The
previous lifetsyle that largely existed before the 1970's and was embraced by many placed a high value on human-to-human
interaction, whereas today's lifestyle followed by at least the last two generations places a high value on human-to-machine
interaction. Whether the machine is a computer, a video game like X-Box, a cell phone used for text messaging, or a simulated
computer sports program that interacts with a television screen is unimportant. What does matter is while all this human-to-machine
interaction is taking place, the value and/or necessity of person-to-person interaction almost becomes an afterthought for
many. This type of thinking and behavior does reduce the value of the individual. And like a rock dropped into a pond, riples
of this lifetsyle flow through all parts of a society, and not always for the better.
There is something that can be
done about this if you are interested and are able to visualize the long term benefits. You can take twenty-five percent of
your time that mostly involves human-to-machine interaction and replace it with a personal preference for human-to-human interaction.
If you text message with friends on a cell phone, instead call them directly and have direct voice-to-voice conversations.
If you're accustomed to doing a majority of your shopping online, instead drive to a store and make a purchase in person
with the assistance of a store employee. This alteration in your lifestyle will seem inconvenient at first, but if you can
switch twenty-five percent of your personal and professional time to a preference for human-to-human interaction over the
long term, you will have done your part in helping to increase the value of the individual, and indirectly, humanity. And
the ripples that your behavior generates in society will likely be more positive than negative.
Best wishes for
the upcoming holiday season.
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