Monday, January 28, 2008

Technology


I'm an early bird. Mostly get up before the sunrise. Mostly because of my hellish commute (try to drive through downtown LA at 7.30 am) but also because it's in my blood. My parents and sister slept in on weekends, often until noon. By that time, I already had 6 hours of Sunday behind me and 2 breakfasts. I was always ready for the third breakfast.

I like being the first person in the office: read the papers and trades, have something to eat, try to get the day started. It feels like a different place when you're in an office designed for 100+ people and then be by yourself for 2-3 hours. Everything seems to be different with nobody else around. Just like an existence out of the normal office routine.

The same happens when I go on vacation. I love to rise up before everybody and feel the earth waking up: There's nothing better than discovering all the stars in the sky outside of urban life. Or the sunrise on a mountain top. No wonder ancient tribes used to worship earth, the stars, the sun or the moon. We have diminished nature to a background. At the foreground is technology. Now, I don't say praying to Mother Earth makes more sense than worshiping technology. But it implies a disconnect with the real world. And the technology admiration leads us to an Inconvenient Truth. Interestingly, technology might be the only way out. Thereby, perpetuating the idea that technology will save the day.

In the end, only humans can save the day. Technology didn't tear down the wall, didn't fly us to the moon, didn't abolish many diseases. Humans did. Technology is a crutch to improve the human experience. Everything else is just a dreadful addiction.

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