As I've mentioned elsewhere, I grew up with comic books and science fiction. So, much of my mind, for most of my childhood and youth, was occupied with notions of alternative realities and The Future.
And one thing that's fascinated me is how wrong all of the future narratives have turned out to be. It's become something of a joke - "where are my robot servants? Where is my flying car?" Teleportation, off-world colonies; the list goes on. None of that shit came true; not even close.
But in my lifetime, two things have come into existence that, though most people take them entirely for granted now, would definitely blow the mind of anyone from the mid-twentieth century who was suddenly dropped into 2012: the Internet and the multitude of wireless communication and computing devices that are now being used all over the planet.
And no one saw them coming.
After the initial wonder and even elation at these technologies wore off - and of course there were plenty of folks who were never entranced - came the backlash: the Internet has no soul, smartphones make you stupid, books are going to vanish, and our privacy has been obliterated.
So why am I not freaking out?
Honestly, I'm with the people who point out that every technological advance ever chronicled has been greeted with, at best, suspicion and at worst, outright panic. And somehow the world has survived.
I am not immune to some concerns, at least on an emotional level; for example, I got along just great without a cell phone until I was about 44 years old - 1996 or so. But now, if I leave the house without my phone, I feel like I'm missing a piece of my brain. And of course, there's the whole notion of work emails coming to my phone seven days a week, and yes I know I don't have to read them, but come on, get real.
But here's the thing - I have friends who live in like ten states and three countries, who I can now share jokes and concerns and photos and music and videos and news articles and recipes as easily as if they all lived next door. I know this sounds obvious, but again, it really is kind of miraculous.
Is there a dark side? Of course. There's always a dark side. But we'll work it out. And in any case, there's no going back.
Last bit on this topic, for now: through Facebook, my late father's cousins (who are roughly my age - the children of my grandfather's youngest brother) were able to connect with me. Family members who I had never met. It was like finding new rooms in a house I've lived in for years. My cousin Terry has been good enough to scan and upload wonderful old pictures of our shared ancestors, including these photos of my father's father, Frank McKenna, circa 1900 or so:
So, this is good. It'll help me get over the lack of flying cars, for sure.
And one thing that's fascinated me is how wrong all of the future narratives have turned out to be. It's become something of a joke - "where are my robot servants? Where is my flying car?" Teleportation, off-world colonies; the list goes on. None of that shit came true; not even close.
But in my lifetime, two things have come into existence that, though most people take them entirely for granted now, would definitely blow the mind of anyone from the mid-twentieth century who was suddenly dropped into 2012: the Internet and the multitude of wireless communication and computing devices that are now being used all over the planet.
And no one saw them coming.
After the initial wonder and even elation at these technologies wore off - and of course there were plenty of folks who were never entranced - came the backlash: the Internet has no soul, smartphones make you stupid, books are going to vanish, and our privacy has been obliterated.
So why am I not freaking out?
Honestly, I'm with the people who point out that every technological advance ever chronicled has been greeted with, at best, suspicion and at worst, outright panic. And somehow the world has survived.
I am not immune to some concerns, at least on an emotional level; for example, I got along just great without a cell phone until I was about 44 years old - 1996 or so. But now, if I leave the house without my phone, I feel like I'm missing a piece of my brain. And of course, there's the whole notion of work emails coming to my phone seven days a week, and yes I know I don't have to read them, but come on, get real.
But here's the thing - I have friends who live in like ten states and three countries, who I can now share jokes and concerns and photos and music and videos and news articles and recipes as easily as if they all lived next door. I know this sounds obvious, but again, it really is kind of miraculous.
Is there a dark side? Of course. There's always a dark side. But we'll work it out. And in any case, there's no going back.
Last bit on this topic, for now: through Facebook, my late father's cousins (who are roughly my age - the children of my grandfather's youngest brother) were able to connect with me. Family members who I had never met. It was like finding new rooms in a house I've lived in for years. My cousin Terry has been good enough to scan and upload wonderful old pictures of our shared ancestors, including these photos of my father's father, Frank McKenna, circa 1900 or so:
