I'm reading Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance at the moment and it's given me something to ponder: Do you feel that we should be more grateful for technology? Or is the simplicity it opens up causing us to miss out on something much more spiritual? Is it ignorant to think that there is more God in a plant than a cellphone? Or does the cellphone hinder us from the reality of ourselves? Discuss.
my self am more about living out in a teepee i wish so deep inside , but as it stands , it would be hard to give it up . i mean to be truthful 2 years back i finally was able to use a phone as i wanted and so that if anything happend i could call 911 while walking around . and it made me feel safe , but if this was back in the days of the wide west before whiteman then i dont know i think i would have been fine. and for christmas i got a Zen it is awsome , but i got it for the reason that i do have a hard time w dealing w things and the music / radio helps and i can put on it what ever i want o hear . there has been times that i dont pic it up . but come on i step out my door and bam , cars , lights etc , nice some time sbut not nature. niether is the mp3s but in this world we are all trying to get away from tho we live so clsoe to each other . in my heart if i could if i knew i would be warm and safe and the teepee sacure fine , but now days we dont know anymore even if we can walk down the road w out getting shot at . and if god forbid u are triping off weed or something for spritual means u go to jail were u might get hurt there. so in the end yes , it hindersus greatly . we are not respectfull of it , but then agin look at what we are talking over the net this is taken for granted any more too
I think we should appreciate in the sense of not using it needlessly and making good use of it when we do. One could argue that we don't need a lot of the things we use, but they make our lives easier. So I don't know, I guess we can appreciate the electric light by using the time we would otherwise have spent keeping a fire going, or working to buy candles as effectively as possible. Whether we do that is another matter.
Technology is no different than anything else created by humans. It can be art, building, music, or similar. What ties them all together is they are expressions of creative ability. The same power attributed to "God", but manifest in physical form. Anything can be a diversion of the path. It is the student that determines what that will be. An undisciplined mind tends to create to it's own disadvantage. If it didn't create an addiction to technology, it would create an addiction to something else, because it is vulnerable from that angle. It likes to have it's pleasure sensors stimulated. One way or another. x
The technological advancements of our species are nothing short of amazing, and the current rate of development is mind blowing. However, like some others have mentioned, it is probably used in excess and might take away from our lives in that we would be doing different things if we did not have the technology we do. Having said that, I believe everyone should be able to survive and enjoy life without being dependent on technology. One thing that comes to mind is those nights when there is a brownout and instead of the usual watching TV/playing computer games/etc your family actually hangs out and has conversation and simply enjoy eachother's company.
Great book, be sure to read the sequel, Lila. It's much better! First, technology is a tool, and it comes in many forms from a stick used as a cane, to a hydrogen bomb; it's all technology. Second, technology is a natural outgrowth of life, it is not restricted to humans but is also apparent in the animal kingdom. Third, the use of technology is the issue, not its existence. R. Buckminster Fuller is a great example of someone who believed that technology would save mankind, not hinder it.
I think that technology is slowly changing the way we think, it's not making the newer generation appreciate the simple things in life... It's taking away how special it is sometimes to be alone, to have no distractions, to think long and hard without being able to google the answer.
