I'm a little worried about how our
society is going. Technological advances seem to be taking us down the road to
dependency. Lack of acceptance of our true selves and the desire to improve.
Take GPS. I recently talked to a
guy who wanted to visit my office. I started to describe how to get there and
he interrupted me and said, "Just give me the street address, I have
GPS."
It worried me. Wayfinding is, or
should be, a basic biological trait. Geese, whales and butterflies find their
way on amazingly long migrations. Dogs align themselves to the earth's magnetic
field to orient their pooping. Humans should retain the basic skills to get
around.
The ability to give, receive and
follow directions keeps us off that road to technological dependency. Worse,
with your head down following your smartphone or dashboard display you drive
badly, swerve, and cut off people in traffic. Turn into what I call a GP-Ass.
Plus, you don't see the beauty of
the world around you. You don't even really know where you live. Many's the
time I've accidentally taken the scenic route and learned more about my
community.
The other techno-advance I read
about recently has me even more concerned. Beard transplants. That's right, one
of the biggest trends in modern cosmetic surgery is filling in the patchiness
on some guy's beards. Some paying up to $7000 for a full reconstruction.
Is this the end of our
civilization? People with too much time and even more vanity laying down good
money to plug hair in their bald faces?
Sounds to me like they're dumb. So
dumb they need GPS to find their rear end. They won't lose their head though.
It'll be lodged inside.
You have arrived at your
destination.
America, ya gotta love it.
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