Reliving Your Youth Through Graphic Images (Silverton Style)
May 11, 2012
Silverton’s Ultimate Childhood Obsession (Silverton Style)
May 25, 2012
Although some people think I’m ancient in some of my thinking, for the most part advances in modern science can be a good thing if done the right way. What is the right way though?
Word Count: 1484
The Reluctant
Advanced Technologist
Now don’t get me wrong; I’ve always thought it vitally essential to “keep up with the Jones” when it comes to the use of technological advancements. A large part of this reasoning has to do with the fact that in order to make it in the world of writing and becoming commercially published, (I dream of one day actually being able to survive financially from my placement of words on a page), you need to embrace modern mechanical changes rather than shun them, right?
On the other hand, I’ve always been a bit of a Luddite. So what exactly is a Luddite? The Merriam Webster English Dictionary defines it as, “A person who opposes technological or industrial innovation-relating back to protests by British factory workers in the 1810’s against new methods of production.” Yes, I’m a Luddite, only I’m still trying to figure out whether or not I should feel proud to proclaim myself one or not? Sociologists say that to a certain degree every adult in 21stcentury society can be considered a Luddite. So if that’s the case, then I’m guilty as charged. Now I just need to figure out how advanced the malady is affecting me?
My first real case of opposition to advancements in modern science occurred while I was in high school. The introduction of pocket calculators all of a sudden made things seem so much faster in my algebra and geometry classes. Faster if you knew how to operate the instrument that is. My first experience using a calculator had me getting a hold of one while doing a homework assignment. Since I didn’t know the precise buttons to press in order to carry out proper operations, I ended up getting frustrated, set the gizmo aside, and reverted back to doing things the old fashioned way with a paper and pencil.
This took a little longer to do the lesson, but I justified that by concluding that I’d actually spend less time doing things the traditional way. If I called a friend in order for him to tell me the proper buttons to press, then I’d waste an hour discussing the latest gossip floating around school.
What’s more important? Learning that half the high school cheerleading squad had become pregnant-and getting that homework done way before it’s due. Or doing it the agonizingly slow way by pencil and paper and living in ignorance. That saying is wrong, unknowing isn’t always living in bliss. Damn, I knew I should’ve picked up that telephone all those years ago. Making that crucial phone call would’ve put me one step further along in my use of new devices, as well as being a lot more fun too.
Then I got to college and discovered that all sorts of new technology existed. Chemistry labs were suddenly so much easier by doing it with modern instruments, I spent all sorts of money I didn’t have on records for my new stereo, and watching television with a remote control suddenly allowed you to waste tremendous amounts of time you didn’t have.
The Peace Corps stint in Kenya was a lesson in doing it the traditional way. Some modern technology did exist and was utilized, but things were often done the old fashioned method since money didn’t exist to do it with more advanced techniques. I wrote all my monthly reports back to the Ministry of Energy by longhand, and a lot of the work we carried out at our tree nursery was also done by hand. Our workers didn’t mind it since a lot of them didn’t know any other way to do things, and most of them were just happy to have a job.
I did learn a little bit about doing things via more advanced methods, but since the money didn’t exist to do procedures that way, we usually ended up going the customary route.
E-mail and the Internet hadn’t been invented yet and because of this, communication between East Africa and the States was excruciatingly slow. Letters back and forth often took at least six weeks to send a message and receive a reply. Telephone communication did exist, but the cost was so prohibitively expensive that I only used that form of information transfer once in two and a half years.
My favorite experience was the Christmas package my parents sent to me in October of ’83. They then came to visit in March of the following year and the package finally arrived the day after they stepped off the plane. This incident gave new meaning to the expression that you’d sent someone an item via camel train through North Africa. In the case of the X-mas package it probably did go that route.
My training at the Kubert School of Cartooning revealed to me just how much the profession seemed to be holding onto methods of doing things the old way while modern technology was passing them by. You learned how to create cartoon images by hand, but I couldn’t get over the fact that everything else peripherally related to the industry was advancing at almost lightning fast speed. Almost too fast in some cases.
Is it still that way? I’ve gotten away from the industry since I’m following a totally different career path these days, but is that the modus operandi throughout the graphic arts field? I have no idea and it almost seems too trivial a question to investigate. Life is way too short to take the time to find out.
Music and the way modern technology has changed it’s distributed to society is an interesting study. During my lifetime I’ve seen all sorts of changes including the shift from 8-track tapes to cassettes, vinyl records to CD’s, and now Ipods and MP3’s digitally storing all your music collection. This makes me think it’s a conspiracy on the part of the industry to get people to invest in new forms of disseminating listening material. Just when I finally purchased every Beatles and Rolling Stones piece of music on CD, the shift to digital took place. Now I’ve got to purchase all new technology for the music. Am I made of money? Makes you wonder doesn’t it?
Often by the time I start to embrace something new, modern technology has already advanced past it. Case in point is my utilization of digital phones. Right about the time I purchased a wireless for the first time last summer, smart phones started becoming ubiquitous in their usage and now my mobile unit almost seems too quaint and outdated. I’ll still keep using the cell until things improve with my financial situation, but it’s hard to argue against the purchase of a smart phone not to do all sorts of tasks modern society requires. This includes taking pictures where the use of old fashioned pre-digital cameras really seems like horse and buggy technology.
The utilization of modern equipment has really improved my skiing. I still hold onto the old fashioned way by doing all my downhill schussing via the Telemark technique of turning though. A bit of an archaic throwback when you think about it, and analogous in many ways to a surfer who’s embraced long boarding. They still persist since they like doing things that way even though it’s become harder to pull off a proper turn.
The total utilization of computers has turned into an integral part of my everyday path through life. Almost all my writing is done with a keyboard these days, and seeing various friends who refuse to use electronic data processing equipment to speed up their implementation of a task almost seems odd and nonconformist. The Internet and all the different ways it can be utilized is truly amazing, so why isn’t everyone in modern American society using a computer and the World Wide Web in some form or another?
Maybe a lot of my friends who refuse to embrace modern technology to get through life because it’s some sort of eccentric defiance on their part? They don’t want to utilize new technology not because they’re scared of it, but because they want to piss somebody off. This starts to make sense when you think about it, and in my situation it does seem to be the case. Make some people shake their head about why you still haven’t purchased a new and improved device just so they can spend a lot of time wondering about you.
This brings up a final point in this odd little essay. Granted, modern society can produce all sorts of bells and whistles to improve the way things are done. You’re still going to need a fluid mind to create the storyline whether it’s via tales around the campfire, or voice recognition software on your computer. That’s what I’m banking on in order to make it with this writing odyssey of mine one day.
