In a previous blog I talked about the stress of camping and that this kind of stress can actually be very therapeutic, partly since you are surrounded by God’s nature. Now I’d like to talk about a stress brought on by man’s own invention – technology, and computers in particular. How does technology create stress? All you have to do is own a pc and you already have likely encountered some kind of problem with it especially if it has a Windows platform (Vista was a nightmare). For one thing, you have to know how to use it, learn all your software programs, and you have to make sure your system is protected. My computers are all automatically updated as I’m sure yours is, and every time I want to perform a download function, a box pops up and I have to grant permission for the download or some other operating system function. And heaven help you if you haven’t backed up your work and your hard drive crashes or your computer burns out! And every time we update our operating systems, I have to re-load every single program each and every time and try to remember which folder the CD’s are stored in. In a word, my world has become much more complicated and stressful because of technology, not to mention the many hours of my life it has mercilessly gobbled up because of a problem, like running out of memory or disk space!
I remember a world before personal computers infiltrated our homes, society and the world in general, so I can’t help but notice the kinds of effects technology is having on us, both positive and negative. First, the positive effects of technology are enormous, at least for me. They have created so many jobs, that our economy would be in sad shape without it. For me as a writer, I would be completely lost without my hard drive to keep track of all my documents and books, and I love the fact that I can save multiple copies of everything! This goes for photo storage and copies of all my artworks, too. I love my digital camera, Blackberry, Blue Ray that is network compatible, our IPod Touch, and my Kindle reader. How wonderful to be able to connect with people that I know who are scattered all over the continents via Facebook and Twitter. We are no longer isolated, or are we?
The part that bothers me the absolute most about technology and pc’s is our almost complete dependency on them. Remember 1999 and the threat of Y2K? What if the year on all the computers did not roll over to 2000 on New Year’s Eve? Many people tried to prepare for this. It could have meant that the world would literally shut down. Since all the cash registers are computerized, we wouldn’t even be able to buy food, so people stocked up on food. We bought an alternative method of heating in case hydro and the power lines were affected. Banks would have been in trouble, since all the data is stored on computer. Without our bank cards, we couldn’t take out cash. When you think of it, it’s hard to imagine life without computers, isn’t it?
Let’s look at computers for what they really are – they are a way to communicate, find information, and store information. Those are their primary functions, and very powerful ones at that. Take them away and what have you got? To communicate, you have to phone people using a land line, talk to people in person, or send them a letter. To find information, you have to ask someone who knows, buy a book on the subject, or go to the library. To store information, you have to have a filing cabinet and lots of storage boxes. Sounds pretty simple, doesn’t it? When I talked about camping, I didn’t mention that we don’t bring along our computers. We brought our cell phones, but computers are off limits when we’re camping. Without our computers, we discovered a whole new world opening up that we had practically forgotten even existed! We talked “face to face,” we listened, and we noticed this whole natural world around us – birds, animals, even interesting bugs. I watched a furry bright yellow caterpillar with coal black eyes squirm across the cement block holding our electrical box. I had no idea there were so many varieties of trees, brush, wildflowers, and grassland. At night I looked up and saw a big round silvery moon and black sky with sparkling stars awakening an awe moment in me. We sat around a fire pit and watched the most vibrant yellow, orange and red flames shoot up and waver against the blackness of the night. I loved the crackling sound and the wood smell. Did I once miss my computer or even think about it? Not once!
Instead, if I felt a need to write, I either jotted ideas down in my 99 cent note book, or I spent a couple of hours writing in my diary.
I mentioned earlier about the stress of having your computer crash and losing all kinds of valuable information on the internal hard drive. I had this happen to me once, many years ago, and the computer store was able to restore all the information. It cost me about $300. Since then, I married a man who is an IT and software expert (analyst), and I can’t remember losing a single mb or gb of information since. I have learned to store everything on an external hard drive, since we continue to upgrade our operating systems, and they’re portable to hook up to any of our computers. And I do not have the stress of having to call up a technician when things go terribly wrong because my husband keeps everything in working order and continues to upgrade our software, drivers, and so on, ad infinitum. That’s the good part of being an IT family, but the worst part is the time it takes to keep it all in good working order! At one time, my husband ran a small business doing contract work and fixing people’s computers. During that time, many of our visits to friends and family I wouldn’t see him because he’d be fixing their computer and he’d often (not always) get paid with a free meal! So computers have been a major part of our life, pretty much like it would if you’re a doctor or other specialist and people are always in need of advice or a cure! But now he does web page development and design, and doesn’t get asked to fix things nearly as often as before.
How have computers affected life in general? We all seem to be insatiable when it comes to information. How much information do we need to know anyway? We Google everything and we no longer need a dictionary. We want to know what everyone else is doing, so we log on to Facebook. We like our images, so we can’t imagine going back to the days of DOS and the black screen with green lettering. Photography is no longer a special hobby. Everyone has a digital camera in their cell phones. And if you are an artist or a crafter, like me, you are now competing with millions of other artists (I’m talking about jewelry in particular) who are also trying to sell their wares online. There is so much of everything, that the world of commerce has never been so competitive, thanks to our global village marketplace. There are so many sites offering free services or have low fees to sell your goods (and they’re making their money via ads), that too many people have put their stuff up for sale and you have to charge next to nothing to get a sale! And will anyone see or click on your ad? And if you’re thinking of starting an online business with anything having to do with computers, you’re probably too late. Someone else has probably already thought of it!
Back to basics – even though it may be difficult for some of us to imagine life without computers, it is possible. Just think of computers like children – you can’t let them run your life. You have to set boundaries for them, and not allow them to go beyond those boundaries. What do I mean? I set a goal and a limited amount of time that I will spend on the computer, and then I walk away. There are times nothing works on the computer and I will spend an entire morning shutting it off and turning it on until either it works, or my husband gets home and fixes it. But those times are rare. It’s different when you are working at a job and you have to use your computer. You can’t walk away for more than your required breaks (unless to get up and stretch), but after work, you can likely do something completely different. In our case, my husband and I are working on computers most of the day every day. So we have to make a concerted effort not to be working on them all evening as well, although sometimes we need to. I know there are some people who are at home all day and spend the day on Facebook or emailing because they are so isolated and need people contact. But there’s always a better way – pick up the phone and call someone, or go for a drive, shopping, a park or anywhere people are (I’ll discuss this more in another blog).
Although technology can make us think we can’t do without it, we must remember the difference between needs and wants. What do we really need? We need food, shelter and clothing. We need each other. And most importantly, we need God. If the world was stripped of technology as we know it today, we would just have to re-do everything and perhaps go back to a much simpler life. We would probably pray a lot more and spend more quality time together. We’d be planting more gardens and learning more survival skills. Here’s something to think about – what if there was a solar flare big enough to wipe out ALL our technology? It’s not an impossibility. Also, we must never become dependent on anything more than we are dependant on God. Even though I am sure He has inspired technology, everything must be used for His purposes and His glory. And nothing should ever become another god to us (remember the first commandment? Exodus 20:3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me. KJV). At any time, we need to be able to put our technology aside, and instead focus on our great and wonderful God who fills the longing of our soul and is delighted when we spend time with Him.
1 John 1:3 That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. KJV
Now I’m gong to walk away and do just that – read my Bible, pray and thank God for His many blessings, including technology.
No comments:
Post a Comment