It is not rare to find me googling on my laptop, listening to music on my iTouch and texting on my cell phone, all the while watching “American Idol” on the big-screen.
It’s almost embarrassing to admit to immersing myself in such a technological environment, but it’s clear when observing society that I am not alone.
We are all tech junkies.
Students are texting under their desks, even in their jacket pockets (if they are talented enough).
Businesspeople are seemingly anatomically connected to their Blackberry’s.
Soccer moms are driving to the big game under the guidance of their Garmin GPS system with “Dora the Explorer” babysitting on the overhead LCD monitor in the backseat.
Runners don’t hit the pavement until they are wired to their MP3 players, heart rate monitors and GPS devices to map their course.
Even Fido has been micro-chipped – or perhaps the only thing doggish about Fido is that his robot parts are programmed to imitate man’s best friend.
When it seems there is nothing left to invent, some miraculous new-fangled thing hits the market and we all just have to have one.
We have gone from sunlight to candles to Edison’s light bulb to those newer, “greener” curly-Q-looking things.
Our music listening outlets have evolved from live to records to eight-tracks to cassette tapes to CDs to MP3s.
It is humorous to think back to the first computers – the heavy gray boxes, the green screen and the giant floppy disks – that would not suffice for the course load of any student.
It makes you wonder, are there any truly organic activities anymore?
Has nothing escaped the scope of technology?
Technology makes life easier. However, it’s concerning that we may be too dependent on technology.
We feel empty without our cell phones, without Google we are incompetent, and we cannot dream of going on vacation without the Garmin to guide us and our digital cameras to record the journey.
Maybe the transcendalists were on to something. We can’t all check into hotel wilderness and submerse ourselves into the natural world in hopes of experiencing some divine revelation.
However, it is necessary to have some organic aspect in our lives in order to maintain our humanity.
This is not to suggest that we all gather naked around a campfire and sing “Kumbaya” while smoking pot out of a wood-carved bong.
But sometimes, we need to go for a technology-free walk, sit by the lake just for the benefit of breathing in the fresh air or watch the sunset (in person, not on YouTube).
To some extent, we all need a reminder from Mother Nature that we are miniscule in this universe – that the universe extends beyond the bounds of wires and signals.
Technology never ceases to advance, but no technological discovery will ever be as majestic as nature.
We are people, humans, Homo sapiens. Technology helps to simplify our lives, but it should not be our lives.