Chapter 42: 21St Century Technology & the De-Evolution of the Human Species

I sit here writing this on my 1st laptop. It is used and 2 years old and I have had to plug it in to charge once already. And it's nearly 1 AM.

Why?

The world has gone insane, that is why. I would be much better off sleeping right now. I would have a much more productive day tomorrow. Alas, here I am. To send a message to you. No, not a text message. Unless you are reading this on your bbm, then maybe your pants just vibrated a minute ago - then you got this "notification" as a message alert.

Fucking terminology. 21st Century technology has not only changed the way we think and do things, but also the way we think to do things. We think in terms of "notifications", "apps", "alerts", "events", "posts", "tweets", and the lord knows about how many of my "friends" I dream about "poking". Fine, deal with the mental double-meanings and such. But dammit! Don't forget how to spell! I know teachers are stressed - and the American system/media/teachers/youth collectively likely have a large influence on our misgivings here in Canada. But nevertheless. Uda punk dat neva learn'd how 2 spell and its making us all look retarded as a nation. Or else you are just lazy.

Bus rides used to be pretty entertaining. In my early years of uni I would watch kids giggle as they "texted?" back and forth for the duration of the commute. Heads 2 inches from the screen and both thumbs going like mad on the keypad, it reminded me of some crazed mouse devouring its first piece of cheese in a year! Bug-eyed and wily-haired, these kids would seldom even look up to see if they missed there stop. "Hey buddy, it's your stop!" So he would bumble his way off the bus not realizing til after the bus pulled away that his stop wasn't for another 6 blocks. Fun times.

But now us kids drive. And by "drive" I mean straddling dotted lines, weaving through traffic in school zones, coasting through red lights & stop signs, and rounding those near-miss-lefts. All with 1 hand permanently attached to that little plastic device. And then we complain that our insurance is so high.

I have a relative that is additcted to his bbm. He is essentially a cyborg, with the device as good as fused to his wrist. I would hazard a guess that he is staring into the thing or punching that little lcd qwerty keyboard on average 8-12 minutes every hour. Personally, I find it rude when relatives come over and they are this distracted by the things they would rather be doing, but whatcha gonna do?! It's acceptable. It's the new norm. Forget real people. They are just in the way.

The internet is where it all began. Being connected. Integrated and devastated. The internet first arrived in Alberta in 1993. (Same time as that tyrrant named Ralph, I think). It is incredible to think that in 90 years society went from horse & carriage to instantaneous mobile technology. Instantaneous debauchery. Is that a bit of a stretch? Then why is there a thing called "sexting". Or a better question might be "Why am I so good at it?!" But aside from mobile devices, the internet opened the floodgates to a new wild world of everybody wanting to know everything about everyone. Pervs! MYOB!!! So when a person isn't busy drooling over the latest installment of World of WarCraft, then they are likely looking to connect with someone, in some way, shape, or form (even if it's Matilda the Troll).

When a person isn't "gaming" or "creeping" they could very well still be looking at material that is inappropriate. Howtotakeovertheworld.com or something, might be inappropriate. And as a result, these people have a new (lower) level of what they consider respectable in today's day & age.

Myself? I like to connect. I try to stay out of trouble from those things in the interweb that have made me...as bad as I already am today... Instead, I link interesting articles, post satirical comments, or import blogs for those of you who might know me, and might be interested in reading what I have to say. I love the fact that the 1 for me might be only a few keystrokes away. But it is also frustrating to me that she can be sooooo effing far away when she doesn't keep in as good as contact as I would like her to, especially when it's as easy as it is. But I don't let it get to me. I can only do so much after all. And I have blogged extensively about this as it is already. It is only because I want to get better connected with those that I care about that I even got this laptop. My pal down in New Zealand? I don't even know if he survived the earthquake on Boxing Day... I have a friend in Ethiopia who I would love to talk to on Skype one day and another in Mizzourah. All around the world there are people out there that I care about, and it would be good to stay in better contact than I have done thus far... Then the amount of mobile device usage for txting and msging explodes when a person has a hope in hell of building a relationship that might lead to something with the least bit of passion or intensity. Wall posts, then texts, then "sexts", then skype --- all technological mediums in which today's society has become so fucking dependent on to simply connect with people.

Even though I now have a laptop, I am going to be sure to not abuse this technology. Since Brad Paisley came out with his Time Well Wasted record, I have thought that to be a pretty reasonable attitude. But very recently I have decided that more and more of my time is not worth wasting. I want to be with real people and do real things and prioritize my time better as I head into the new year. Let's see how we do...

A few last thoughts:

1. I am somewhat convinced that there is a good probability that electro-magnetic radiation coming off of these 21st Century devices may lead to more cancers

2. I have another post like this that's different but same. It talks more about how we allow ourselves to be portrayed to others in how we use technology and language.

3. I am concerned for the standards and morals of the bulk of the world's populations, if the proportions of populations making poor decisions with their technology outweighs those that make good ones.

4. I understand that communication is key in the developing world economies, but if a person must choose between a new cellphone to get the market prices of a crop and a treadle pump so that he may provide water for his crops, then how can he choose?!?!

5. A blog called iMe is in the preliminary stages. Expect it in another 2 years.

My time was better well spent before the onset of the internet.

My time was better well spent when I was 6.