Pasadena, CA - My initial thought was to go run up those mountains. I wrote this blog post instead.
However, some people are not so fond of our connected world. They want things to go back to how they were in "good old days." They want life to go back to how it was in the 50's, 60's, and 70's, when it was "simple" and "pure." I know some of these people. (Ironically, they use Web 2.0 tools to complain about how the world is worse off now.) The era these people want to go back to never actually existed. They look back on the past with rose-colored glasses, and forget all the problems associated. However, assume for a moment that their views of the 1950's really are accurate. That life was simpler. That life was exactly like Leave it to Beaver. Would any of us really be willing to give up the technology to go back to that?
I certainly wouldn't. Sure, our interconnected world comes with problems, but it allows to be more social and more productive than ever before. How about you? Would you take the deal? And how should we deal with the tradeoff that new tools and technologies bring to our world?
I do think it is ironic that people use the same technology to complain but no I wouldn't go back. The advancements we have come with both positive and negative benefits but overtime as the the older generation leaves us the younger generation will not know the difference and will not remember the startec cell phones or payphones. People always look back and think that things were better but the reality we were not as connected and we were just in our little bubble and didn't know what was happening around us except for our limited news. If you look at the crime rate in which so many say are worst off but we as a country have a long history of highs and lows and in 2012 our murder rate was back down to the 1940s rate. So things will change and as humans, we love to complain. I don't think either is going away.
ReplyDeleteI think the "limited news" is key. As our technologies have advanced, so has our distribution of information (see the Networked Information chapter in the book). Thus, it might not be that the world has gotten more complicated or worse--it might just be that we are more aware of problems than ever before. However, without a proper understanding of the context, it would be easy to say things got worse.
DeleteOf course, it also has to do with the information that is presented. We live in a society that lives the violent news stories, so those are presented more. Thus, we might believe that the murder rate is increasing or that plane crashes are more common than they actually are (i.e., the availability heuristic)..
I was drawing my old days, and finally one word, startec, makes it clear. It's little different story, but fun. I have talked with a person who is 10 years younger than me about meeting friends and playing with them in a playground in early 1980'. Then he asked me how to meet them without telephone or cell phone. The answer was simple. They were always in there. No appointment was necessary. My thoughts are with Ron. There are positive and negative benefits (I believe there were so many things to play with friends and ways to keep social connections without technologies) but I would not go back. We have much more chances to connect with others and even we can find someone who have disconnected for awhile with technologies. Cannot give up the huge advantages.
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