39 lines
1.9 KiB
Markdown
39 lines
1.9 KiB
Markdown
---
|
|
title: My technological flag in the sand
|
|
date: 2022-10-28T14:59:00-0600
|
|
---
|
|
|
|
Elon Musk just bought Twitter. It got me thinking about Twitter, something that
|
|
comes up a lot, because a lot happens there in 2022, and some of that filters
|
|
through to me.
|
|
|
|
I've long known that the day would come when I would just not be willing to
|
|
accept some sort of societal change, and this would be what defined me as an old
|
|
person. This isn't some unique thing I'd be doing: this is a time-honored human
|
|
trait. Previous generations have put their flags in the sand by rejecting polyphonic
|
|
sacred music, rejecting automobiles, rejecting email, and rejecting smartphones.
|
|
|
|
Today I realized what my flag in the sand is going to be. I am not going to
|
|
become active on Twitter, or Instagram, or Facebook, or Myspace, or LiveJournal.
|
|
I see no personal benefit to adopting the newer technologies, and I see a lot of
|
|
personal benefits to avoiding them.
|
|
|
|
I'm not doing this because I think it's just a fad that humanity will move past.
|
|
No: now that we have it, and are beginning to realize how it actually works,
|
|
we're having to figure out how to use it responsibly as a species. This is a
|
|
pretty familiar story for any new technology. I'm just deciding I'm not
|
|
interested in being a part of that process.
|
|
|
|
At some point, some related technology will come along and sweep me up with it.
|
|
It will be awkward for me, and young people will recognize that I'm just no good
|
|
at it. They'll wonder how any human being could be so inept at something so
|
|
obvious. It will become a mental shortcut for the elderly that they are awkward
|
|
with this technology, and the elderly will discuss how pointless it is and how
|
|
they just can't understand why anyone needs it. We'll watch with some degree of
|
|
sadness as our way of life dies with us.
|
|
|
|
When you hear writers and philosophers talking about how limited lifespans are a
|
|
gift to humanity, they're talking about this sort of thing.
|
|
|
|
I hope y'all have a nice time :)
|