The Foley of technology
I was cleaning up my junk (no, not my carrot and radishes), in the garage the other day and wondered how to read my square. A few days earlier, I got some help figuring how much lumber I'd need to build a shed that was already there when we bought the place. For the most part I could figure it out myself, since geometry is pretty easy for me due to my brain folds, and I know how many inches there are between each stud/joist/rafter. The rafters were the only tricky part as far as I was concerned.
Anyway, I wondered if, when Logan is 30, I'd be teaching him the same things I was learning when I got help figuring out how I'd build a shed. With the way science is going, for a second I was mildly unsure.
The truth is, though, we've been building houses the same way for over 200 years; you hold the hammer in one hand and set the nail with the other. And I came to realize that all we've gained from technology is how we communicate with each other. (Hell, this blog is a good example of that, read: please don't ever call me.)
We put people on the moon, but we still need a dude with a chainsaw to cut down trees for our homes. (He should have a beard too, but it's mostly optional.)
Even if you think about the medical or scientific gains we've got from technology, they still boil down to how we communicate with each other. Sure, computers do some hardcore calculations, but it's not anything new, just old calculations we already knew how to do, but the computer only does them faster. The computer allows us to communicate the results faster than we would have earlier. It hasn't come up with a novel way to get those results. Even an MRI is just a better way of communicating what's going on inside of us then we previously could with a stethoscope.
In the end, (and the middle too, I guess), humans are social animals, and I guess it's good that all we really need to spend our technological time doing is talking to each other in better ways. I guess it means we're not too busy running for our lives. (Ha! Take that Homo neanderthalensis, you bitch!)
A while back, a guy I know, whose almost middle-aged now, told me that he thought, by now, he'd have been to space.
I'll be honest, by the time I'm his age (a mere 20 years or so from now) I sure as hell hope I've been to space. We should probably have colonies in space after we invent an alloy to ward off radiation poisoning from the freakin' sun.
All this lead me to decide I'm going to teach Logan the same things my dad (and others) have taught me. I'm going to buy a 1984 Red Dodge Ram pick-up truck. When I look under the hood, all I'll see is the engine block, head, value cover, alternator, carborator, starter, transmission and a high school sized Andy Haight (yes, he did fit in there.) And everything is connected with one timing belt, except Andy.
Yeah, I know, I missed a few things like the power steering motor or wiper motor. The point is, if you really wanted to, you could look inside the engine compartment long enough, and with some tools and patience, you could figure out what was going on.
The other day, my router (or modem, still not sure which) was acting like a hinie and I couldn't get on-line. Suppose I took my computer (or router or modem) apart and looked at it. Would that really help me solve the problem? No way. The 1's and 0's are too small to see.
For lots of years, maybe millions, we humans got by with our brains and our hands. Until about 200 years ago, that's all we really had. Some people today don't have a clue how to cook food. They are incomprehensively dependent on someone else, almost like a baby, only they are grown-ups.
These are the people who will be eaten first if (when?) life goes back to being on the tundra. (I wish I could take the credit for that saying but I can't.)
There is value in understanding which way is up, or that clockwise tightens a bolt.
Now I know what Ben Franklin meant when he said, "When your balls itch, scratch them."
Anyway, I wondered if, when Logan is 30, I'd be teaching him the same things I was learning when I got help figuring out how I'd build a shed. With the way science is going, for a second I was mildly unsure.
The truth is, though, we've been building houses the same way for over 200 years; you hold the hammer in one hand and set the nail with the other. And I came to realize that all we've gained from technology is how we communicate with each other. (Hell, this blog is a good example of that, read: please don't ever call me.)
We put people on the moon, but we still need a dude with a chainsaw to cut down trees for our homes. (He should have a beard too, but it's mostly optional.)
Even if you think about the medical or scientific gains we've got from technology, they still boil down to how we communicate with each other. Sure, computers do some hardcore calculations, but it's not anything new, just old calculations we already knew how to do, but the computer only does them faster. The computer allows us to communicate the results faster than we would have earlier. It hasn't come up with a novel way to get those results. Even an MRI is just a better way of communicating what's going on inside of us then we previously could with a stethoscope.
In the end, (and the middle too, I guess), humans are social animals, and I guess it's good that all we really need to spend our technological time doing is talking to each other in better ways. I guess it means we're not too busy running for our lives. (Ha! Take that Homo neanderthalensis, you bitch!)
A while back, a guy I know, whose almost middle-aged now, told me that he thought, by now, he'd have been to space.
I'll be honest, by the time I'm his age (a mere 20 years or so from now) I sure as hell hope I've been to space. We should probably have colonies in space after we invent an alloy to ward off radiation poisoning from the freakin' sun.
All this lead me to decide I'm going to teach Logan the same things my dad (and others) have taught me. I'm going to buy a 1984 Red Dodge Ram pick-up truck. When I look under the hood, all I'll see is the engine block, head, value cover, alternator, carborator, starter, transmission and a high school sized Andy Haight (yes, he did fit in there.) And everything is connected with one timing belt, except Andy.
Yeah, I know, I missed a few things like the power steering motor or wiper motor. The point is, if you really wanted to, you could look inside the engine compartment long enough, and with some tools and patience, you could figure out what was going on.
The other day, my router (or modem, still not sure which) was acting like a hinie and I couldn't get on-line. Suppose I took my computer (or router or modem) apart and looked at it. Would that really help me solve the problem? No way. The 1's and 0's are too small to see.
For lots of years, maybe millions, we humans got by with our brains and our hands. Until about 200 years ago, that's all we really had. Some people today don't have a clue how to cook food. They are incomprehensively dependent on someone else, almost like a baby, only they are grown-ups.
These are the people who will be eaten first if (when?) life goes back to being on the tundra. (I wish I could take the credit for that saying but I can't.)
There is value in understanding which way is up, or that clockwise tightens a bolt.
Now I know what Ben Franklin meant when he said, "When your balls itch, scratch them."
Labels: kids, who cares?
