I think it’s fair to say that technology has been wonderfully beneficial for all of us in a great many ways. The simple fact that I’m writing this blog from my chair at my desk in my home and all of you are able to read it when I press a single button is amazing. You don’t even have to be associated with a wonderful place like families.com as there are so many free blogging sites and micro-blogging sites you can sign up for in mere seconds and share your ideas with the world. This is a powerful thing. Just as powerful is the ability to link to other things.
Links are like a super-bibliography or a power-footnote. While I never read a single footnote before graduate school I constantly click on links while doing research. I open far too many tabs, evaluate material in a matter of seconds, and often find myself speeding through the internet at break-neck speeds learning new things. Just as often as this ability affords a benefit it creates a danger: procrastination. I’ve been focusing on that recently. There is, I think, another danger with technology: more.
More what? More everything. The power of computers is that you can, and are expected to be able to, do more. Self-promote, research, design, blog, create, manage lists, organize information, et cetera. I’m convinced that this technology that allows great things to transpire also fractures our focus and expertise into a million different areas. While I think this is a good thing it makes us prone to forget. Too many things to remember is one thing; too many things to remember in too many areas is another entirely. Part of procrastination (I think) is simply not knowing where to start or what to do because there is just too much. Technology, for all its benefits, makes us forget. It can also help us remember. (See you next time).