Technology… The Good, The Bad, and What do we do when it Disappears

So, I’ve been combing through a bunch of my old blogs…  many are no longer active, but there are still some nuggets and gems.  One of the things I’ve found myself doing is going back and looking at my spiritual foundations.  I’ll be re-posting some of the nuggets here.  🙂

Originally posted November 4th, 2009

 

payphone

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(This is a payphone, in case you’ve forgotten what they look like)

We live in a time where at the blink of an eye we can communicate with everyone we’ve ever met. With the click of one button, the world can know where I am, what I am doing, and what all of my likes and dislikes are. The big question is: how much of ourselves are we going to give away to the technological world. With every application in the world available at a tap, we get further away from connecting to one another. I can remember a time where people actually walked up to one another and said “Hi, my name is….”, now the first question is: “Do you have Facebookmyspace or twitter?”

We have become so reliant on these little gadgets and devices. I noticed a funny icon on my phone the other day. It asked me if it wasOK that Google collected information on my searches, location, etc so that it could provide better quality as far as searches. Google (and many cell phone providers) have been known to collect and build profiles on users–and more along the Big Brother lines than helping me find the best vegan pizza joint in town. We really have to be careful where we give away our information, we have to use our intuition to decide if it is necessary to venture down these techno highways. They are great for the service they provide… but, does anyone remember how to use a map or even know what an Atlas is? GPS has stolen away the necessity to learn how to read basic maps, we can even have our books read to us by our IPODsthere are programs that slow brainwaves down for meditation, there are neat applications that just suck us right into a world of dependence.

Last night it seems that TMOBILE also crashed. I can still remember how angry I was getting that I could not check my email, send a text, or make a call. I also then realized how attached I was to this phone. It was a wake call… pun intended.

What do we do if all this technology disappears tomorrow? Do you know the actual phone number of the 3 top people you call the most? With a click of a button, a call is made. If I had to walk up to a payphone, I am sure that my speed dial or top 5 will not be programmed in (pay phone? What in the world is that?).

Take time each day to put away the techno-toys. Detach completely. Go a day without using them, detach from email. Send a letter (pen and paper) to a friend. Go a day without texting. Write down all the important numbers in your phone. Ask yourself “If there were no way of using electronic means of communication, what would I do?” This is an extremely valid question, and its another insight that popped up during the TMOBILE outage. I’ve been fortunate to have been introduced to a telepathy technique which is very effective. We have to look outside of ourselves and the techno boxes we’ve put ourselves into.

Much love to you all,

Mike Brazell

xoxo