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As I sit here writing to you through the Internet, I feel like we have lost something in our world. And I think we are responsible for this loss.
It all began when most people I knew got a personal computer in the early 1980s. We believed what advertisers told us that the compact computer would save us from the "paper blob" (in the words of a contemporary commercial). We also thought that computers would help us to become more organized and efficient.
Besides the frequent breakdowns and freezes, and the increase in paper production because of the ease in printing out, the personal computer has deprived us of the personal touch. I rarely write letters anymore, using the word processor for a while until the advent of electronic mail. There was much of interest we could see in a person's handwriting, like whether they printed or used cursive and whether they closed letters like the letter "a."
Microwaves came about to save time in the cooking of food. It always works well in a pinch to throw something in the microwave, or to "nuke" it, but no one can seriously say the food that comes out of it beats the "old-fashioned" ways of the oven or the grill. And while it is true that the grill caused more smoke and carcinogens to the environment, have we really made up this problem with the microwave?
And we also started using the automated teller machine (ATM) to get cash. Its ease of use leads to the financial demise of many. Back in days of writing out withdrawal slips, a person had to go inside the bank during its regular hours to retrieve money, which created a type of deterrence. And now, with the use of credit cards, we never see the cash leave our hands!
By making things "easier" for ourselves, we have created new complications. The worst part is that we keep moving ourselves further and further from everyone else. Instead of enjoying a sports event at the stadium with others, more people opt instead for television, now with cable and satellite channel options. Hearing the roar of the crowd is a memorable experience that fewer people will get to engage in.
With the continuing economic problems in the United States, more people want to stretch their dollars out. They could take the easy way by buying fast food and re-heating it with the microwave. But it would be must less costly and healthier for a person to cook the food fresh themselves every day.
But who has time to cook? Or to take cooking classes? With the use of convenient options, we think less and less of going to a class, being around people and learning something that could help us.
Where are the voices in our lives? Many people go to cubicles and do not interact much with co-workers because they are pre-occupied with information from computers. Our neighbors are more and more becoming people we have only interacted with on the Internet. It is sad when the favorite voice of so many are people like Rush Limbaugh who stir up anger and spread lies and half-truths on the radio.
You read my words instead of hearing them. We have allowed this script of convenience and isolation to be written for us. We should realize that the script includes me and you but no longer us.
