Synthetization
Why does it feel like technology sucks the life out of me?
Fine…I’m of the age that when I talk about my love of holding a book, being a used bookstore junkie, writing in pencil on a pad, eyes start to roll. I am an advocate of melding new and old…hear me out.
Technology gives us fast access to things we would never be able to do, it gives us ways to communicate never imagined, and that is awesome. BUT…we tend to ignore the time suck that goes with technology learning, and damnit!!!, fixing that which is never in the manual, never in the IT visit…just like going to the car repair shop saying, “that knocking was there while I was driving it, I swear!”
Technology is not that fast, when you factor in the time suck and learning curves. Yes…that’s my story and I’m sticking to it! I learn and retain exponentially faster by writing on paper with a pencil. I feel connected in an organic way to whatever is developing in my psyche, probably because I’m reaching into a part of my brain that cannot be accessed on my computer. I calm my mind, away from the computer, by feeling the pencil in my hand, the book opened between my hands, the spiritual connection to the creation I cannot get through the visual only.
How? Why is this important? Most likely there is the element of slowing down the brain by writing physically, which for me is essential. My brain runs on 180mph every waking hour anyway. The stimulus of a computer screen has a sterile feeling for me, so I have to carve out time to walk away. It’s not easy because of the allure of so much knowledge gratification.
With this coronavirus isolation there is loads of time to think, amid the stress of a changing landscape we have no clue whether it will turn out to resemble the past. The zoom meetings, on-line research, database scouring, accessing work computers from home, have taught us the limitations of technology without the things we take for granted that cannot be underestimated.
Synthetization
I like this word! We can preserve the past and embrace the future with an understanding of how they can compliment each other with synthetization.
We can rely heavily on technology without burning down the old methods, embracing the tactile necessity of sensory desire feeding our souls with that synthetization.
So…what I do is cherish the old, admire and respect it, while typing away searching the ethernet for information that would take me a very long time to find otherwise, knowing that “information” is the seed for investigation to find out if it holds truth, myth, or false propaganda. I still, sans the current quarantine, travel to places to research, to museums, to lands where my ancestors walked, because seeing pictures on a computer screen can never replace the emotional wave of connectivity that is deeply human.
With great power comes great responsibility. The ether world appears to spit in the face of responsibility because we can be bold without repercussions. That is tested by going into ones car and driving aggressively and rudely. Somehow our sense of security behind a hidden computer screen veil is transferring to our outer world in horrible ways.
I don’t know what tomorrow brings, but I vow to be the same person outside the world as I am inside. This is what keeps me passionate, accountable and have a life worth living, far from perfect, close to learning more about what I do not know, hopefully with less fear and more great responsibility.
