From Andrew Sullivan's blog:
Kyle Baxter worries about the effects of Google Glass:
What I find most troubling is the philosophy underlying Larry Page and Sergey Brin’s thoughts on devices like Glass. They say that Glass’s goal is to get technology “out of the way,” but that isn’t it. The idea is that we will all be better off if we’re always connected to the web, always on, and have uninterrupted and instantaneous access to it and humanity’s “knowledge.”
The idea that Page expresses is that if I can immediately learn about something I don’t know much about, I’ll be better off. I’ll be able to make smarter decisions and live a deeper, richer life by spending the time it would have taken to research and learn about something on more meaningful and substantive tasks.
I think, though, that is a terribly deluded and shallow understanding of what it means to “learn” about something.
Funny, Rio (my 14 year old son, for those who do not know me) came home today bubbling with info about Google Glass. He is very excited at the prospect. My 16 year old? She says it is like the borg (from Star Trek)--why would you WANT to be plugged in all the time.
ReplyDeleteI am kind of along those lines. I enjoy taking the time to learn things--and the things you learn "by accident" along the way. And while I very much love much that technology has to offer, I also very much being far, far away from it often.
Even my 14 year old loves working an iron forge and sheering sheep at his very low tech school. There is something to be said for full, hands on, tactile experiences. I shudder to think that many children are growing up with less and less of reality in their lives.
I don't think I am at all afraid of technology. I often embrace it. But I am afraid of ANYthing overlaying all of our experiences and casting its shadow so high.