Comments
by Bob Brandon....
Am I the only one, or do you sometimes get the
feeling that the more technologically advanced we get, the more vulnerable
we become? With every new networking innovation, our computers become that
much more dependent on each other to function properly. And we're asking
our technology to do so much more.
The other day I was next
in line at the supermarket when the computer network went down. Their fancy
scanners couldn't recognize the barcodes, since nothing is actually marked
with a pricetag anymore (it makes it so much easier to raise prices, manage
inventory and lower costs all at the same time). SO anyway, the extremely
helpful and interested checkout person leapt at the opportunity to solve
this problem.
Uh, yeah. Did you notice
the hint of sarcasm in the last sentence? She stood there with a disinterested
expression on her otherwise expressionless face. "Computer's down, you
can wait if you want, I'll be back in a few minutes", and she took her
key out of the register and stalked off. I just left the two items I had
optimistically selected and wandered in a daze out the door.
Technology. What happens
when you're on vacation and you stop at an ATM in the middle of the night,
in the middle of nowhere, and it keeps your card? And your cellphone won't
register a signal. We place entirely too much faith in fallable systems.
We push more and more airplanes
into the sky, and every so often one doesn't come down just right. Lately,
the nation's busiest, O'Hare has been seeing ghost planes on their radar.
It could be contruction cranes, or who knows what...over two dozen
fake images in the past few weeks. Scary.
We have a blind allegance
to science. Remember the saccarine/cancer disaster? Back in the 70's,
Canadian lab rats showed conclusively that the artificial sweetener caused
cancer...in rats. It's taken science this long to discover that there are
certain differences between rats and humans, and oops, it doesn't seem
to be a carcinogen after all.
Well, if it's not, it's probably
the only thing we eat that isn't..If we're not dying from exposure to
asbestos, lead, mercury, or decaffienated coffee, it's the deadly cancer
causing agents in diesel fumes. Unfortunately, our trusted science fathers
failed to notice this connection until we became completely dependent on
trucks, trains and busses.
And how about genetically
altered foods? Sure, the huge food conglomerate tells us there's nothing
to worry about...genetically crossing arctic salmon with big boy tomatoes
is completely benign. Now there's a word. Benign. It seems that the ability
to distribute food without spoilage is worth the trade off in taste. It's
a real benign flavor.
And of course, it could take
a generation of folks eating this stuff before we really see that oops,
all of a sudden we don't have a certain natural enzyme, that we used to
have. Just maybe? Don't count on the scientists to tell you. Their research
budgets come from the huge corporations that stay rich when you consume
the latest technology. The more empowered we become by technology, the
less we truly control.
No, the irony of reading
this column on the internet is not lost on me. I love technology, but I
don't love the dehumanizing effect it's having on our society. That's why
as soon as I save this file in the proper folder, I'll launch my voicechat
application. Hopefully, I'll interface with another user. Then I'll logoff
and reboot, I mean go to sleep.
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