Posted by Raul on March 21, 2011
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Before, we dreamed of seeing some place with our own eyes, but now it is possible to see it from our own place using technology, so no need to travel anymore. With the increasing technology that also becomes affordable to the masses, no longer we need to “go get” the information and the entertainment; now they come to us without the need from us to move anywhere.
It is an outstanding advance that allows us to embrace and do more in our lives. We can become very productive and knowledgeable in almost any field we decide to do so. What we cannot reach easily can be brought to us by technology, making possible to use our time in more efficient ways, leading us to have more productive lives.
But what if, instead of using these marvels of science and technology to increase our knowledge and productivity, we use it to reduce our speed and self pressure to grow? (Based on the instinct of always taking the shortest path)
For the children of the change, those who were young when all this technology still didn’t exist, it is easy to adapt to some of the benefits while still keeping the desire to do “some stuff” in the old physical ways, like traveling and “being there”; seeing with our own eyes; feeling the breeze in our skin and having the possibility to “touch” the place (like grabbing a handful of sand) and smelling the flowers, trees and ground on a rainy day.
But what would happen to the children of the future, who are being born immersed in this increasingly technology flooded medium, and start their first steps in walking together with their first steps in login in? For them it’ll be a natural thing to see a new place through a computer screen rather than being there.
At one hand we can understand the point of touring, lets say, Ireland, seeing what is too see in a screen rather than in person. In the shortest amount of time it’ll be possible to see the most places at different times of the year (each one with its individual beauty); listening to the sound of the country side and the cities; listening to the voices of the local with their unique accent; taking a quick look to the traditional cuisine and the newest preferences of the people living there.
We can do all this without the expenses of travel tickets, hotels, tours, etc. We also can avoid the “suffering” of temperature changes, wind, rain, and all the typical experiences associated with traveling. No lost baggage!
And with the new technologies to come, we will also be able to smell the scents, perceive the breeze and experience the place in a more complete way. Right now communication systems use the senses of vision and hearing, but I’m sure pretty soon they will find ways to add the senses of touch, smell and taste to the repertoire available to computer technology.
But if we extend the trend to the future, wouldn’t be possible to have a big number of people who has become adapted to this new society, where the external world that used to surround a person becomes an enclosed, climate controlled room that has all the connections and possibilities of remote interaction with the world?
Think of it like the highly technologic suit in the movie “Iron Man”, only this enclosed environment of protection and interaction with the external world just doesn’t move. Like becoming the yolk of an egg, surrounded by the technological feeding white, and protected from the world with a surrounding shell. A world and a society of separated “units” connected by technology.
I know there’ll be always the people who will prefer the actual physical interaction, leaving the technological resources as an aid, rather than an end. But what about the big majority that isn’t well guided while being raised, and becomes easy prey for the technology providers?
Looking around to young people who can easily find answers to the most strange questions and situations using a computer; who prefer to see a new place in the screen rather than having to “endure” a physical trip to the actual place, I can’t stop to wonder how the future society will be.
What trends do you see in the actual use of technology?
Do you identify more with the “Children of the Change” or the “Children of the Future”?
Raul
Posted by Raul on March 17, 2011
Going to the movies used to be something very special; the anticipation for an activity that wasn’t common but just a couple of times a year. The feeling of going to that magical, enclosed big room with what seemed hundred of seats, high wall decorated with old, dark red curtains and some dusty wooden decorations. The long, worn carpet that led us to the seats facing the white screen where some magical world will appear, and would let us live some different life and travel to a distant place for about two hours.
But there was also the other part of the trip; the possibility of stopping by a coffee shop after the movie and have a glass of soda and maybe a piece of cake, pineapple by preference. The small, rectangular, metallic table with a plastic tablecloth in red and white squares; the view thru the windows, watching passers by in their unknown activities for us; looking at their grey faces and dark clothing; their fast paced walk and their anonymity to each other, always dancing with sudden movements to avoid physical contact with each other in their travels by the crowded streets.
There was no need for words…there was so much to see!
The whole world and life became silent and slow moving, so it was easy to stop for a moment and watch the surroundings, the people, the physical things that conformed and created the city, society and of being part of life in itself.
Going to the movies was a moment when daily life stopped for a moment and magic became reality. It was the opportunity to step aside of my own life and self; to have the chance to see the world around with different eyes and what was always there, but never seen from that perspective. It was the opportunity to stop participating of society to become a spectator of life.
Then the trip back home, just like the one at the beginning, waiting for the bus at the stop in a dirty street. Watching the people around, up to their faces marked with worries of daily life and infinite activities; perhaps the ghosts of their future that had to be crafted day by day, and I was apart, traveling in time at the moment, aside of life, even my own.
Seating and holding the metallic rail in front at the worn out bus seat, listening to the infinite sounds made by a tired machine that spent an entire life running and still haven’t got the chance to retire and rest. The wind coming through the window that couldn’t be closed, making the noise that combined with the singer at the end of the corridor of the bus, playing an acoustic guitar with a colored cloth tied to it and some strange sticker close to the cords, with a meaning that probably only he would know and understand.
Houses, stores and empty, dirty lots went by behind other cars, competing in speed with the wooden and concrete poles that remained standing by the side of the street, providing the hold of the electric net of the city. Some graffiti in the walls, sharing space with the posters of some candidate to some political group…adult stuff!
Perhaps the best home work I ever got!
There’ll be days and weeks to remember the trip, the bus, the movie theater, the people seen from a different perspective, as a spectator of life instead of a participant. And the movie itself, whatever the story; the places and time where the story told by the white screen seemed to happen…so much to remember and analyze!
Sometimes living life doesn’t seem to be part of life, but when being a child and taken to the movies, I had the chance to step aside of it all for a brief moment and enjoy the magic of the movie, together with the magic of life and people, by watching from a distance to compare both, at the same time of taking a break of being alive.
Raul
Posted by Raul on March 13, 2011
It is sad to see how more and more houses become empty, with a sign “For Sale”, waiting to be occupied again.
We could compare the economy of a society with walking. When times are complicated and the economy is bad for the majority, it’ll be like walking uphill -lots of efforts to cover very little ground.
But for the past several decades in the US the economy was at continuous growth, becoming a slight but increasing downhill walk for the people.
“Only a slight amount of energy is required to get in motion when walking in a flat, level surface. Once in motion, the amount of energy required is even smaller”
By the simplification and increased efficiency in many areas of work by the companies leading the economy, more and more was imposed the “learn at the job” structure and mentality. It worked well for several decades, but the price tag is a society that doesn’t consider or even hold, the need for a strict and pushing educational system.
“A downhill walk requires us to reduce the amount of energy applied in order to remain in motion. Less energy to acquire the same original intended result”
By consuming, thus generating movement in the market, the economic growth became independent of the production needs. A system that feed itself in its own circular motion, based in buying and discarding to buy more. The temptation of reaching dreams by credit became the flag and promotional tactics of corporations in search for bigger profits.
“Walking in a downhill, taking more and more ground at a faster speed becomes a temptation due to the very small amount of energy required”
Having the possibility of acquiring more and expensive items no longer was a privilege of the wealthy. Every one with a decent credit could “afford” by credit the possession of luxury items that would reinforce his/her image and self esteem.
“At first, gaining speed and covering more ground faster becomes intoxicating and motivating for having more”
By the time momentum has been gained, the elements of luxury became a standard need, rather than the luxury they suppose to be. The need for reaching then the next step became the norm in a cycle repeating itself time and time again.
But the economic system, relying in the continuous movement of a circular process of consuming, like a wheel spinning faster and faster until it reaches speeds that set it out of control, started to fall apart, disintegrating the basis of the economic system.
“Running downhill then becomes scary and the realization for the need of slowing down to a safer speed takes in”
The level of expenses incurred in became too much for the capabilities of the transforming economic system, so people had to adjust to new standards already forgotten, or simply considered “sub-standard”.
The amount of credit taken, based in an economic system that didn’t suppose to change, created a burden on people living at a dreamed social level. But credit incurred in (mortgage, car payments, etc) couldn’t be discarded so easily.
“Running downhill we realize we are going to fast for safety, but it’s too late to regain control, and only the attempt of just not falling while running scared by the situation is the only option”
The once high life by credit became a continuous struggle for survival. Deterioration of the luxury elements by not being able to renew as often as the economic system suggested, became the first signs of the end of the party, the awakening of the dream.
From then on, for many it has become just a continuous fight to remain “alive” financially, not knowing when the personal situation will finally collapse, and throw them into the unknown.
“Running downhill at an uncontrollable speed, waiting for the moment were we know we will fall and get badly hurt, but also know it’ll be the only way to stop this runaway situation. We just don’t want to face the moment, so we keep trying harder to keep up, until we succumb by exhaustion and total lack of control”
Raul
Posted by Raul on March 11, 2011
Checking the hard drive of my computer to see what posts I’ve been working on, and to complete some of them for future publishing, I’ve come to realize there are so many waiting to see the daylight. After a quick count, I noticed there are more than one hundred!
There are six folders: Entertainment (2); Fiction (29); Memories (0); Projections (1); Thoughts (62); and Uncategorized (8). -The six categories I have in this blog. The biggest numbers are in Fiction and Thoughts, while the smallest (0) is in the Memories folder, which is of no surprise, considering my terrible memory 
Every time an idea comes to mind I write whatever comes out and place the “project” in the appropriate folder, ready to be completed when there’s more time available. Unfortunately, the original idea seems to vanish completely when I try to retake the post to complete it.
Perhaps the worst part is that ideas come to mind in the most “inappropriate” circumstances, like when driving in my delivery shift, when in the shower, etc. In some instances it is of no problem to just grab a piece of paper and write down the name of the post, the general idea, and some quick notes to help the future writing. But when the time comes to actually take the task of completing the posts (a couple of days later), my mind either becomes blank, or I can’t see the reason or logic of the original idea, making worthless the whole point.
I’ve tried (when possible) not to stop writing when the idea comes around, and simply postpone whatever I was doing at the time, but usually there’ll be some research involved, and the time required to complete the whole process force me to still leave the post for future complexion.
The result is more than one hundred posts waiting and nothing ready to publish.
-Does it happen to you?
-What procedure do you use to write those ideas that cannot be completed at once?
-How do you organize your writings in your computer?
Let me know in the comment section.
Raul
Posted by Raul on March 8, 2011
And then the old syndrome of: “Someday I’ll be able to stop saying someday”, just to drag life on another year. Who will subscribe?
“Spring is coming! Spring is coming!” -The inner voice raced across the city with the news.
The frozen lake is no more…instead seagulls feed at will with madness, flying all over the place.
Some say life is like a roll of toilet paper…the closer to the end, the faster it goes.
Some say life is like a cigarette…a pleasure at the beginning but stinky at the end (and only a bad smell left…Yikes!).
Some say life is like getting drunk…laughing and dancing with abandon at first, to end up unable to stand and walk by the end…Aw!
New technologies = easier life…incommunicado!
Facing the unknown from the comfort of an internet terminal at home equals little experience in facing life for the growing child. The art of physical interaction become lost.
Nowadays, and for more and more people, the number of minutes used on the cell phone seems to be inversely proportional to the amount of company felt.
A mirror shows just the machine, but not the driver.
Getting lost in the requirements of survival and their luxury extensions, that brings enhanced pleasures to the instincts. Starving souls leaving the physical plane?
All the spirits gather in the ether and conform the thinking and deciding entity that controls the cosmos…God is a Union!
Thinking in a bi-dimensional plane there are only two options to the problem. In a tri-dimensional plane there are six. (At least it becomes an “intelligent” confusion!)
I guess I’ve spent too much time without writing, and the thoughts fly around like small, winged demons, making fun of the driver!
Raul
