Unplugged

August 28^th, 2011

            Here is a fun and interesting question that I have been asking people lately. The question is, “if you could be alive in any decade what would it be and why?” (Please respond to the survey on the sidebar, I would like to see the answers that I get) I have gotten many different answers from the different PCTs that I have asked (not surprisingly many have told me during the 60s and 70s, hippies). My answer to this question is the 50s, I would also like the 20s, 30s, and 40s. I fully know that I am cheating on my own question but basically any decade that included the “greatest generation” as Tom Brokaw called them would please me. I feel like this decade appeals to me because it was a simpler time, people were not in such a rush, you knew you neighbors and everyone in your town, and the reliance on technology was not like it is today. At times I wish that I could go back and experience this slice of pure Americana. The pace of life here is nowhere near what it is in America; the pace of life is so much slower and to be honest I really enjoy it, it is closer to what I expect the pace of life was like during the 50s. Along with the slower pace of life is that I am not always “plugged in” like everyone in America usually is. Sure I have a phone but the only people that really contact me on are my other PCTs and I am basically with them every day so it gets used very rarely. In all honesty I actually rarely have my phone on.

One of the beauties of the lack of technology is the increased importance of conversation. Conversation is becoming a lost art form with so much instant communication it is a sad reality. When was the last time that sat down and had a true conversation with someone? I mean a real conversation that goes deeper that the superficial happens of everyday life. Before I came here to Honduras I would say it had been a fair amount of time. It is not necessarily a bad thing but that is just the way that our culture is shaped nowadays, we are always in such a rush that we do not really have the time to dig deep into conversation and really get to know people, how they feel, who they really are, and how their mind works. Here in Honduras I have had numerous conversations in which we were actually able to step past the day to day and step into a much deeper place, from these conversations I not only learned about my friends but also about myself. The simple act of having a true conversation with someone is the foundation of a relationship; I fear that in America nowadays not enough emphasis is placed on building a solid relationship. Everything is just so much shallower. Disclaimer: please do not take this as an insult, it is my guess that everyone who is reading this I hold in the highest regard and would say that they are all great conversationalists. I would also say that I have a true relationship with you all as well. These observations are more of a general feel of where our culture may be headed.

Our constant need to be in the know and utilize technology may actually be hurting us more than it is helping us (though I admit they are and can be used as amazing resources). I can even see the beginnings of technological addiction here in Honduras. My host brother really enjoys playing games on the computer, he will ask me the moment that I come in the door if we can play on my computer. He wants to be playing on the computer at all times, and when he is not playing on the computer he feels that everything else is boring. He is 6, this is an age where your mind is full of endless possibilities and there is so much to learn, your imagination is your best friend and yet it just is not cultivated with computer. It is scary that a six year old needs that much constant stimulation and get bored when playing cards, drawing, playing hide and go seek, or cops and robbers. When he is unable to play on the computer he will literally cry his eyes out (even as I write this blog post he has come in to my room and asked me to play 4 times, I have put him at bay by telling him I am doing homework which is not a complete lie).

I cannot imagine the effects that this is having on our youth all over the world, in fact I saw a headline in the newspaper here the other day that said, “Is 6 years old too young for a smartphone?” I kid you not, that headline was here in Honduras. Now I am not anti-technology I just think we need to be smarter in the ways that we utilize it because we have some extraordinary tools that we could really be using to improve education, health, and well bring worldwide. It is just a matter of whether or not we are using technology correctly, for example, in order to write this blog and post it online so that all of you could read it I am relying on technology, and for all of you to read it (and obviously get so much smarter from my words and knowledge dropping) you also relied on technology. Technology is one of those rare things that can take humanity to the highest strata of living while at the same time do the most damage to humankind; it is up to us to decide where we will let it take us.