Don't know the end of the joke, well Pete fell off and who was left ? That's right, repeat. The joke just keeps going and going.
Well I'd like to take that very simple joke to make a statement....
We, America, the World, People, our beliefs, our idea's, everything is a giant example of that joke. Everything we think is new, has already been thought of, we just think it's new because it's sleeker and cooler.
"Things just keep getting worse and worse, the world is going to end any day now", a sentiment shared today, a sentiment shared 2000 years ago.
We're living the same lives over and over, and I'm not talking reincarnation here.
The whole idea of "repeating", as I like to call it, is especially prevalent here in my home country, the good ol' U.S. of A. We think of ourselves as the ruling civilization, that will never crumble and holds all the cards. Well, so did Rome, and Greece, Egypt, The Mayans, and the Inca. And, those are just some of the more well known "Great" civilizations that have "ruled the world".
You think any of them sat around and said, " You know what, I bet our society will crumble someday, and cease to exist as we know it"? I would be willing to bet that's a sentiment not shared by the major civilizations.
Yet, all of them crumbled and became just another story in the history books, another set of ruins to pick through, another pile of garbage to examine under a microscope and be viewed in a museum.
I'm sorry, but that will eventually be us, the mighty rulers of the planet. Somebody will be looking through our ancient trash dumps, picking through the remains of our once highly advanced structures, and hanging our bones in some museum for people to "OOOOhhh, Wow, that's interesting" about.
Technology won't save us, the civilizations above had eye dazzling technology for their time and what happened to them? They collapsed, only to be replaced by yet another civilization.
And the world that's such a terrible and scary place "nowadays", well go back even a hundred years, we wouldn't stand a chance.
You think it's so terrible that you heard gun shots last night down the street, how about a gunfight right outside your window, and sometimes those were just for fun.
Take it back a bit further to the great and wonderful Renaissance, talk crap about your king back than.... "Off with your head!!!!".
Basically what I'm trying to say is, well very simple actually, we're not as wonderful as our arrogance makes us believe, our problems are as massive as we imagine, and our Civilization won't last forever. Even if the end of the world doesn't come for a thousand years, our civilization will be ancient by than.
June 24, 2008
June 22, 2008
Hey !!!! Is that your cell phone ?
When did we become so dependent on cell phones ?
10 years ago cell phones were still fairly expensive and not everyone had one.
Now you see from the poorest of poor up to the extremely wealthy with cell phone in hand.
We survived for so long with nothing more than our "home" phones, now we wouldn't think of leaving without our cell phones within reach. Heck, half the population is now walking around with those silly ear pieces that make it look like their talking to themselves.
I don't know how many times someone has been talking on one of those in the grocery store, library or business right next to me and I turned because I thought they were talking to me when they said "Hello".
The question remains the same though, when did we become so dependent on them ?
Is it because we live in a busy, scary world where we need our cell phones to survive or do business ? The answer to that is simple, NO.
Living life, surviving the big world, doing business, etc. We did all of that just fine before cell phones became main stream. We don't need these little noise makers to live, we have just fooled ourselves into believing that we do.
Try something for me, take that electronic leash, leave it at home and spend a day without it.
You'd be amazed at how free you feel, as if you've spent years on cocaine and finally kicked the addiction.
Our dependence on cell phones is just that, an addiction. Something, like many of the technologies that we now just can't "Live without", that is truly, deep down now more than an addiction.
Human beings are amazed by technology, sometimes helped by it but can live happy fulfilling lives without it.
If we don't disconnect sometimes from it we're only going to become a sci-fi novel. One of those wonderful reads that ends in machines standing over the bodies of their distraught human slaves. The Matrix has you my friend, and you didn't even put up a fight.
But there aren't going to be an flashy special effect flying or martial arts to save you from this struggle with technology we are living right now.
Sure I-Pods are great (you can listen to cool jams all day long), Cell phones can be useful (can't change a tire huh, me either), the Internet is a marvel (read interesting facts, keep up with news, waste the day on You Tube). But, do you really need them to be happy, get together with friends, in case of emergency ? No, once again is the simple answer.
And, if you have any other questions of survival without cell phones, you don't have to go back too far, the addiction is still fairly fresh.
Think about this now, especially if your a parent, this is the technology we are passing on to our kids. We're letting these multi-billion dollar companies push on us without complaint. Think about it now before, like cigarettes, these companies decide to tell you they really do cause cancer.
Think about it now, while you can still think for yourself, before you have to ask your robot companion if it's okay that you go out for the night.
Laugh all you want, the day will come when we regret this dependence on cell phones. And who are you going to call than, all your friends and family's numbers are no longer safely locked away inside your head, they're now lost in the memory chip of your "can't find a signal", cause the battery's dead cell phone...
10 years ago cell phones were still fairly expensive and not everyone had one.
Now you see from the poorest of poor up to the extremely wealthy with cell phone in hand.
We survived for so long with nothing more than our "home" phones, now we wouldn't think of leaving without our cell phones within reach. Heck, half the population is now walking around with those silly ear pieces that make it look like their talking to themselves.
I don't know how many times someone has been talking on one of those in the grocery store, library or business right next to me and I turned because I thought they were talking to me when they said "Hello".
The question remains the same though, when did we become so dependent on them ?
Is it because we live in a busy, scary world where we need our cell phones to survive or do business ? The answer to that is simple, NO.
Living life, surviving the big world, doing business, etc. We did all of that just fine before cell phones became main stream. We don't need these little noise makers to live, we have just fooled ourselves into believing that we do.
Try something for me, take that electronic leash, leave it at home and spend a day without it.
You'd be amazed at how free you feel, as if you've spent years on cocaine and finally kicked the addiction.
Our dependence on cell phones is just that, an addiction. Something, like many of the technologies that we now just can't "Live without", that is truly, deep down now more than an addiction.
Human beings are amazed by technology, sometimes helped by it but can live happy fulfilling lives without it.
If we don't disconnect sometimes from it we're only going to become a sci-fi novel. One of those wonderful reads that ends in machines standing over the bodies of their distraught human slaves. The Matrix has you my friend, and you didn't even put up a fight.
But there aren't going to be an flashy special effect flying or martial arts to save you from this struggle with technology we are living right now.
Sure I-Pods are great (you can listen to cool jams all day long), Cell phones can be useful (can't change a tire huh, me either), the Internet is a marvel (read interesting facts, keep up with news, waste the day on You Tube). But, do you really need them to be happy, get together with friends, in case of emergency ? No, once again is the simple answer.
And, if you have any other questions of survival without cell phones, you don't have to go back too far, the addiction is still fairly fresh.
Think about this now, especially if your a parent, this is the technology we are passing on to our kids. We're letting these multi-billion dollar companies push on us without complaint. Think about it now before, like cigarettes, these companies decide to tell you they really do cause cancer.
Think about it now, while you can still think for yourself, before you have to ask your robot companion if it's okay that you go out for the night.
Laugh all you want, the day will come when we regret this dependence on cell phones. And who are you going to call than, all your friends and family's numbers are no longer safely locked away inside your head, they're now lost in the memory chip of your "can't find a signal", cause the battery's dead cell phone...
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