I turned the computer on early this morning (against my FlyLady routine) because Hub Man needed a document printed out that was stored on my computer.
This has put a monkey wrench in my morning, because when it is on, I tend to go back to it over and over instead of getting on with other things. Today I spent a few minutes thinking about why, and this is what occurred to me. . .
I half expect some kind of response from the damn thing. Like it's a person that I should not neglect too long. And there is this ridiculous feeling that somewhere in its inner workings there will be answers to my questions. In fact on a strictly informational level this may be true, but I find that I even think it might answer some of my more existential questions.
I already look into this box for encouragement and guidance, (FlyLady). I find interaction and friendship (Dear Diary). I can satisfy many of my curiosities about a myriad of things (Google) - But because I'm using the computer as this interface to accomplish all this stuff, I have a tendency to think of it as more than it really is.. . Which is nothing more than a terminal, like the clicking button of the telegraph once was not that many years ago.
Computer makers and software writers try to seduce us into thinking it's more than that by letting us customize the way our computer looks and sounds, until the cows come home. But in the end, it is still just a terminal
As humans it is one of our most basic needs to be connected to others. And at least where I live in this day and age, meeting with people face to face is a challenge. And I'm not talking about going to the store, I mean sitting down with friends and talking or working on something together. Since this kind of interaction has become so much more difficult, the computer steps up as some kind of substitute. It's not always a BAD thing mind you, it's just a more complicated and distancing one.
When all your friends and family are otherwise occupied, there sits the computer, ready to pay a game of Zuma, tell you the name of the fungus that is growing on your rose bushes, give you the latest news updates on the Michael (gag) Jackson trial, show you 5,893 different salt and pepper sets in the shape of a cow on ebay, or print you out a recipe for "The Ultimate Chocolate Brownies", chosen from literally thousands upon thousands that are available on the WWW.
What king EVER had more well informed advisors than we do?
So here's the thing that kind of makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up:
If I am already...... attached to my computer today, what will it be like when they figure out how to made them really talk to me? So that it really WOULD become a possibility to have an existential conversation, drawing from the writings of all the great philosophers?
If that ever happens in my lifetime....
I would probably never leave the house.
These are the things I spend my time worrying about at 7:30 in the morning when I've turned the computer on too early.
I think I'm going to go dig in the dirt and plant some seeds or something real low tech.