The World According to Technophobes

A few weeks ago, I was in an antique store and the guy on duty behind the counter was busy playing solitaire with a deck of cards. I mentioned that I played solitaire on my computer and was met by a grimace and “harummph,” indicating that the computer solitaire wasn’t real solitaire.

First, I wondered what made it so much more legitimate to manually flip cards over; not something that requires magnificent skill in my mind. Then I made the connection; he was discounting it because a computer – or technology – was involved.

I have been exposed to a number of technophobes in the past few months, which I’ve borne with as much equanimity has I could muster. However, yesterday a conversation with some co-workers, about how wonderful the internet is, sparked me to remember just how much my life has changed for the better since its inception (as well as that of others who embrace rather than discard technology.)

I probably appreciated technology the most as a reporter. First, the internet made fact-checking and information gathering a whiz. I couldn’t imagine the lives of those who had gone before and had to make trips to a library to get their articles together. Don’t get me wrong – I love libraries. However, being able to Google (see, even our language has changed radically as a result of the advance of computer sciences) something, and receive hundreds of thousands of references, transformed the art of journalism and many other disciplines.

While being able to email someone has reduced the amount of real mail we receive, most people would trade off instant communications for the aesthetics of receiving the occasional letter. Now, it seems, our biggest problem in this regard, is not becoming a slave to our email. Culling through the spam and irritating fluff emails can be annoying. Still, I’d never want to have to go back to having only the options of mail, telephone or, God forbid, telegraph messages.

Cell phones are the most maligned of the newer electronic devices. I often hear sarcastic remarks like: “What in the world did we ever do without cell phones?” Actually, this is an easy question to answer. We worried about our spouses and children when they didn’t get home when we expected them, where now we dial them for an update. We got to the grocery store and forgot what it was we needed and usually went home without a critical item, when now we can just call home for help. We got stranded on a lonely road in the middle of the night and were dependent on a stranger to come along and help us out, instead of being able to call the police or AAA.

Now, let’s talk about one of my favorite technological advances – the digital camera. How freeing is it to snap shot after shot, never having to worry about running out of film or the expense of printing all the horrible pictures along with the few gems? I have gotten the best photos by simply shooting several of every possible scenario. In the old days, I’d have to be very careful not to waste film. Also, I can now store all my photo on my computer, email copies to others, print only the ones I want and take an unlimited number of shots. Wow!

There are so many more innovations – Ipods, camera phones, GPS devices – it would take forever to cover all the enhancements that technology has and continues to provide. I, for one, am thrilled to be living in the age of technology.

I wonder what they will call this period in 100 years?

Are Thoughts Magnetic?

An incredible experience led me to suddenly considered the idea that perhaps thoughts do have a sort of magnetism to them.

I had been mulling over a problem at work, in which I was having trouble communicating with someone who was trying to train me. The frustration level on both sides was increasing and something had to be done. Sunday morning, I awoke with the answer in my head, which was amazing clear and concise.

"She's verbal and I'm visual!" With that mental statement, an incredible sense of relief came over me. In essence, my trainer was prone to trying to explain things without any written instructions, simply through telling me. I'm sure that works well for those who are basically verbal. For me, it had been pure torture. I need to "see" it and also to be able to refer to it again, in writing.

What made this discovery such a happy one for me was what happened after that revelation. I was literally swamped with realizations from my past. Things that had bothered me over the years and this simple understanding explained them.

For instance, it has always mystified me that I can sing along with a song or hear it over and over; yet I'm unable to memorize it. I have always been annoyed by that and even thought I was perhaps disabled in some way. This ah-ha moment enlightened me. Now, if I want to learn a song, I'll look it up on the internet, print out the lyrics and memorize it.

The rushing of thoughts continued and I had a mental image of a large round magnet as the first thought and all of these subsequent thoughts flowing towards it as if by the pull of an unseen force - magnetism.

As probably many of you know, there is a theory (expounded by many throughout the ages, but most recently in a book called "The Secret"), that what you think about you bring to you. After this experience, I'm even more prone to believe that this is true.

I wonder sometimes, if we have thoughts that gather others along with them and we just don't perceive the connections; that perhaps we are "turned off, and tuned out" as hippies used to say. Perhaps, thoughts are invisible but have an unknown physicality to them? Hummm...gives a whole new meaning to the term "woolgathering", a decidedly physical description of daydreaming or cogitating.

Happy thoughts to all of you and may your mental magnet be in full force!

For A Sanity Break -Try Blogging

Okay, most of you out there are not writers, so why would you want to blog? Good question. Let me see if I can explain the benefits.

As a writer, blogging has been a lifesaver. It has allowed me to keep my hand in and get instant gratification, while I tackle two huge projects that will take a while to come to fruition - one is a novel and the other an intricate website. Not only do I get to write on a regular basis, but because I've put a google analysis tool on my blogs, which tells me people are reading them, I know my words are not falling off into dead space.

For that reason only, a blog may be just right for you, the average Joe or Josephine. Do you have an opinion on who won the Vice Presidential Debates? Wouldn't you love to express that view without starting World War III at work or with relatives? How about your love of creating new and unique desserts? Wouldn't you love to display pictures of those fancy cakes and cupcakes you made for your latest soiree'? You could upload photos and also include the recipes.

Really, this forum is good for so many people. Recently an AARP email reported that 20 million people in the US read blogs everyday and even more surprising, 12 million have blogs of their own. What does that say to you? There are a lot of people with something to say or share and even more who are interested.

So, if you've got a hobby, a pet peeve, a desire to write daily, a special window on the world or any tiny part of it, then you might want to consider blogging.

This is extremely easy to do and it's free. Come on all you would-be bloggers, give it a try! What have you got to lose?