Does technology actually make life better?
Yeah, that seemed like a no-brainer to me, too. Of course it does! But the opposite was the premise of an interesting book I just read called Better Off: Flipping the Switch on Technology. It was written by an MIT grad student who went with his new wife and lived in a "Minimite" community - a group that uses so little technology that even the Amish consider them backwards.
One of the lessons he learns is that hard physical labor eventually becomes automatic, freeing your mind for deep conversations, which speed the work along. If you're intrigued, you can read an excerpt of the first chapter here and an interview with the author here.
Brende doesn't make the case that all technology is evil, but that it's certainly not neutral and its role is to serve humans - not the other way around. Keeping that in mind, he promotes thoughtful consideration before rushing to get whatever new gizmo has come out, even if it promises to save you all kinds of time and effort.
What was most interesting to me was the difference the lack of technology made to community. You don't get to choose who is in your social circle - it consists of people within walking or buggy distance. Granted, everyone in this community already shared an important commonality in desiring to live this lifestyle, which probably facilitated getting along. But there remained important differences among the people in temperament and religion, among other factors. The thing is, whether you like your neighbor or not, you need his help come harvest time.
As fascinating as it is to read about this, I don't know that turning your back on the modern world and joining a group like this is a realistic solution to whatever problem bothers you most about society today (whether it's technology or morality or whatever). But we can learn from the people that do and try to apply their wisdom to our own situations. I think the most important thing is just to be intentional (something I often have to remind myself to implement).
Intentional in fostering community with our neighbors. And intentional in our use of technology.
One example of technology that is best in moderation is the cell phone. Now I'm not opposed to cell phones. As proof of that, my husband wanted to get rid of his and I wouldn't let him. But when phones come before people you're ostensibly interacting with, there's a problem.
My dad was complaining the other day about how "kids these days" will pull out their phones and be texting while you're trying to have a conversation with them. My 23 year old brother informed my dad that's just how his generation is, so he'd better get used to it. I disagreed. Sure, that might be how his generation is (is there really such a difference in 5 years?), but that doesn't make acting that way any less rude. The person right in front of you has to come before the person on the other end of the line.
Something is wrong when the commercial below is actually depicting the world we live in - but a new phone isn't what's going to save us.
It's not that I consider myself better than the people fiddling with their fancy phones. If anything, I consider myself weaker. I know myself well enough to know that I would be constantly checking it and consequently shortchanging whoever I was with. I can barely handle having the computer in our living room - it is constantly sucking my attention away from my husband and my baby. If I had a phone that dinged every time I got an email, I'd be intolerable.
That's the main reason we don't have internet on our cell phones - because I don't trust myself with it. (Plus we're cheap.) While it may be fun and handy in the rare emergency, it is certainly not a necessity.
The other day we were taking a walk and a man stopped his car to ask us for directions. He had one eye on his phone and one eye on us. We told him to go straight and around a bend and the road he was looking for should be there. He looked back at his phone, thanked us, and made a U-turn. He trusted his phone more than he trusted people.
Obviously there's some irony in a blogger complaining about the pervasiveness of the internet. I do think technology can aid community - like when a new bride moves across the country and stays in her apartment writing her dissertation all day and can't find a way to make friends and so she joins the blogosphere. Ahem. But at the same time, it's awful easy for the same technology to stand in the way of a full face-to-face community, the kind that gives hugs and brings meals and knows your family. When I turn down a playdate to stay home and blog, there's something wrong there.
But enough about my weaknesses and what I think - what do you think? Have you ever considered tempering your use of technology or do you completely embrace it?