Friday, July 16, 2010

International Technology Day

I'm going to a wedding and I bought a new dress. I have trouble knowing what's stylish and appropriate, so I took a picture of the dress and sent it to my fashion consultant who lives 5 hours away - my daughter. She gave it a thumbs up.



Since then, I've been thinking about what a magical world this is. It's amazing that I can send a picture and have a response opinion on it within minutes. Perhaps you're too young to remember the days of typewriters, carbon copies, and ditto machines. I'm really dating myself here. Maybe I should ask, do you remember when people wrote letters and used the Post Office?


Kids nowadays are born with a sixth sense - the techno aptitude faculty. Clicking, texting, navigating complicated games and computer programs are natural to them. Is our evolution accelerating right before our eyes? In the 70's there was a very popular book entitled Future Shock. It was about the unimaginable things that were already coming into our world and the fact that they were happening so fast, people were in a kind of shock from the stimulation of technological advancement. Well, I think we're over the shock and into complacent acceptance that this is the way it is. And we wait for the next Ipod upgrade.

Spirituality versus Technology

From time to time I've entertained an internal conversation, which goes something like this:
"The world is out of balance and some spiritual leaders are speaking out against the evils of technology. They say we are giving too much attention to it and we should be focusing on our spiritual growth instead. Maybe they're right. But, were we intended to stifle our technological advancement? Who gave us those abilities to begin with? Wasn't it God?"


I'm a terrible debater. But I come to good conclusions nevertheless and here's what I think:
I think that our human Spirit was intended to soar, that we are unaware of our fullest potential, that if there are people out there who study, experiment and invent - their pursuits are fueled by a Divine quest which is pulling them towards change (what we perceive as advancement).

We often say we were products of God's creation. Well we still are, and Creativity is innate within us. Many religions affirm that we were made in God's image and, obviously, God loves to experiment, play and have fun. Maybe, this world is just a Universal PlayStation. But the bottom line is that imitation is the best form of flattery, so perhaps to imitate God by creativity is a profound manner of worship. I for one am grateful that I have witnessed miracles in my lifetime way beyond my imagination. I never thought I'd be communicating like this. What a wonder!


I do not invalidate the criticism though. I also think that we could stand to balance things out. We could take some time for spiritual practices, or just some of the old ways humans have of enjoying themselves, with human interaction instead of technological interactive games. We could do a little more exploration on how to decrease the ecological stress our techno gadgets cause Mother Earth. And definitely, we don't absolutely have to have the latest gizmo even thought the one we have works perfectly well. But to condemn technology is, if nothing else, unrealistic at this point in our human history.

Spirit is in All. I think all space is sacred and that includes Cyber space. I think God loves geeks too. And if we divide spirit from technology it is because we tend to think that there is such a thing as separation. We forget that it's all One, that everything is interconnected. We are One. The Universe is One.

PAYING HOMAGE


I don't know if it already exists, but if not, let me make a proposal. Let's declare a special day to celebrate technology. Maybe it could grow to be an international holiday - a day off from school and work.


I'm not waiting for the holiday. I celebrate now as I write to you in this mysterious contraption called a computer. I'm having fun.


Happy Techno Day!!!

1 comment: