I'M NO TECHNO-BRAINIAC
BUT I'M TECHNOCRATIC!

I'm not an anti-techonology activist, nor do I practise zero tolerance for the latest gadgets and gizmos. I do agree that I-Pods are cool and that Steve Jobs is an inspiration to many aspiring technopreneurs with his stunning global success of Apple computers and of course his unflinching courage in pitting himself against the strongholds of the Microsoft empire. Technology is one of the greatest accomplishments of the humankind besides philosophy and fine arts. And I always wished I had a knack for it. Unfortunately, I'm quite the techno-idiot and my skill (or rather the lack of) is limited to emails and mobile phones. For Heaven's sake, I don't even own an I-Pod or an MP3 player! And I'm typing this blog entry on my Compac Presario 1500 which still runs on a Pentium 4 (not complaining though, it's good enough for a mild techno-phobic like me). Perhaps that's why I'd rather stick to studying human behaviour and the human mind (Psychology is cool ya).

Not here to gripe and whinge about technology. Am certainly not going to vilify it as the root of all evil (cos' I belive that Man's pride is the root of many evils apart from Mr S. A. Tan), nor am I going to belittle it's status in our ever-moving and fast-paced society. We need technology in our world today. Our world has been modified to such a great extent since creation that technology is no longer simply a luxury but has become a "necessity", a survival tool which many can't leave home without (or live without at home). Unless you are elderly or an infant, it would be an "abominable sin" for you to not know anything about it (at least know how to use text messaging on your mobile phone--hello?). I probably just want to rattle on a bit on how ironic communications technology can be in our lives.

The irony just rang in my head this morning as I was reflecting (that's one of my favourite pastimes on the bus every morning since I don't have a mini I-Pod to sing to, though I would describe it more as random thinking or "ruminating"). Finally read in the papers about something which I heard of over the radio last week from Glenn Ong and the Flying Dutchman (they can be quite informative sometimes apart from the sexual stuff that we all can do without):

"IN NEW YORK CITY, THREE PEDESTRIANS PLUGGED IN-TO THEIR I-PODS HAVE BEEN KILLED IN THE PAST FEW MONTHS AFTER THEY STEPPED OFF KERBS AND INTO THE PATH OF ONCOMING VEHICLES".

It goes on to say that...

"NEW YORK SENATOR CARL KRUGER LAST MONTH EVEN PROPOSED A BILL THAT WOULD SEE PEOPLE FINED US$100 (S$153) FOR USING ANY KIND OF ELECTRONIC DEVICE WHILE CROSSING A ROAD".

Even as I type this, I can hear the "Can you believe that?"s resounding in my brain (no I'm not having auditory hallucinations). I mean, many young people are sure to protest against that bill. As a driver, my initial response to it is "would that make a difference?". That horrible reality of people being banged down whilst crossing the road and at the same time listening to their electronic devices didn't stump me a bit. As a driver, I frequently see hordes of kids crossing the road whilst engaged in lively banter, oblivious to the surrounding. It just irritates me to the core when they don't pay attention as they cross the road. That's when I retaliate with a horn (or several). One of my pet peeves I guess.

What actually inspired me to enter an entry today is rather the afterthoughts that I have regarding technology. I definitely have no doubt about techonology being an excellent medium for communications. We learn new ideas through the mass media--internet, radio, television, etc. We have verbal exchanges with people from the other side of the globe using tele-conferencing, MSN messenger and Skype. We develop relationships through gaming with our buddy and clan-mates at the LAN shop and through online gaming. Technology is something that pulls people together like in online forums and sharing of information, but it's also something that can potentially BE USED to alienate and lower our sense of awareness of the human realm.

How often have we found ourselves desperately pressing those buttons on the keypad of our mobile phones to look busy when we're faced with foreign social environments that simply scare our socks off (okay that's a bit of an extreme, you get what I mean)? Familiar? "Guilty"? How about the times when we put up that "do not disturb"sign by plugging into our MP3 players to seem occupied and conveniently excuse ourselves from having to engage in "polite discussion" and "PRing"? Heh, I'm guilty big-time of the first one. When I look socially awkward or want to find a quick escape route from some constipated conversation, it's my samsung to the rescue!

The greatest danger I feel which when I think about sends chills down my spine, is the fact that women joggers plugged into their electronic devices are often preyed on by sexual predators waiting to pounce on them while they jog through the local park. It's scary. This was something mentioned by the trainer in the recent profiling workshop I attended. These females become easy targets by men who just exploit the fact that they aren't as conscious to their surrounding as they should be. The price paid is simply too tragic.

The point is our use of technology can possibly cause us to lower our sense of awareness not only to the world around us but also to the human aspect of interaction. As much as techonology should bring people together, if utilised in a certain manner, it can become a bane to us. I sure do need to emphasise that it's not techonology that is at fault. We all look for things to blame but many times it's our lack of discipline and prideful nature that causes us to fall. As technology becomes more prevalent in our lives, we cannot afford to allow ourselves to become slaves to it. We need to rein ourselves in and learn to differentiate the boundaries between overusage and effective use.

A counsellee asked me one day: "why did man create money?". He said that without money, there would be so much less evil in the world. While I agreed that money seems to have led to a lot of couple spats and broken homes, but many times it's not so much of money itself which is the problem. It's the selfish and self-serving human that is behind all this duress and distress in society. The bottomline for us is to be discerning about the way we live our lives and use the instruments we created. Learn to appreciate the fact that the ability to invent all these things derive from from the human imagination, intellect and creativity, which originates from God and is His gift to us.