Tuesday, November 29, 2005
545 11-29
I was thinking today about how much that technology has helped us but also how much it has hindered us. If you remember the cartoon "the Jetsons", George had to go in to work for three hours a week and he thought that it was awful. The three hours a week was made possible by all of the technology advances and automation. So my question is, why are people working more hours if technology has advanced so far? Shouldn't technology be freeing us up to do more things that we want to do and not forcing us to carry work with us wherever we go?(cell phones) When is the benefit of advancements actually going to help us instead of binding us more to the things that we don't want to be doing?
# posted by Wallace @ 2:02 PM 
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Repeat after me: "Free will." (No, not Free Willy). From what I read, only in the United States are people working more hours. (Let me amend that to developed countries - people just trying to survive are probably working as many hours as they can). It's a cultural value placed on work, "success", money, etc. in this country. We can choose to be "tethered" to our jobs via technology, or we can use technology to free us up for other things. Like with everything else, I think it needs to be a balance, but most of us just haven't done a good job of balancing.
Cell phones are a perfect example. I think they are a great invention - allowing you to stay in touch with work, family, friends - and especially teenage sons and daughters. The problem arises when you (and others) expect you to be available 24/7. Just because it rings doesn't mean you have to answer it.
Just because you have access to school email at home doesn't mean you have to read it. If it helps you do what you want to do, it's a great tool. If you feel like it's a burden, stop doing it. We all need to learn how to say no to certain things and yes to the things that are most important to us. (Note: I have not mastered this myself.)
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Cell phones are a perfect example. I think they are a great invention - allowing you to stay in touch with work, family, friends - and especially teenage sons and daughters. The problem arises when you (and others) expect you to be available 24/7. Just because it rings doesn't mean you have to answer it.
Just because you have access to school email at home doesn't mean you have to read it. If it helps you do what you want to do, it's a great tool. If you feel like it's a burden, stop doing it. We all need to learn how to say no to certain things and yes to the things that are most important to us. (Note: I have not mastered this myself.)
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