Navigation Through a Technology Society

As a child of the 60’s, I am never ceased to be stunned and astonished at today’s society. People today are so preoccupied with social media, instant information and global presence, that they fail to be aware of their own surroundings and the people that they encounter on a daily basis. People do not even talk to each other anymore. I have been in restaurants where couples do not look up from their cell phones long enough to enjoy their companions company. Meetings are taken anytime, anywhere and information on any subject is just a few keystrokes away.

The world used to seem like such a larger place, and the wonderments that a place could hold were endless. Now with virtual technology, we can travel the world, see wonders from every corner of the globe, and never leave our living room. It seems that nothing holds magic anymore.

Gone are the days that children would rise early on a Saturday morning to go out into the neighborhood to meet up with their friends for a day of exploring, making forts, playing imagination, riding bikes and staying out until dusk. Children now are preoccupied with video games, social media and text messaging.

I remember taking a book off the book self and settling down into a cozy nook in my grandmother’s house to discover mystical creatures and magical places from around the world in distant lands and long ago times. Now you can open any web browser and travel to China from your kitchen table.

Has this technology brought us closer together in an ever shrinking world? I do not think so. I feel that it has made us more alone and separated. Stories are not passed from generation to generation anymore. Conversations are no longer held at the dinner table about how your day was. Imagination is not implemented in childhood play. We are in such a race to do, and see, and discover at a moment’s notice, that we are failing to enjoy, contemplate and appreciate all that is in our here and now. Our world is facing over-crowding, climate destruction, political break-down and environmental disintegration. Our cities and towns are becoming concrete fortresses and the land’s natural beauty is being engulfed by the ever-expanding corporate jungle.

I feel that the time is coming that we will no longer need human companionship, but be sufficient unto ourselves with just technology to keep us company. And to me, that is a lonely, lonely thought.