Take a step back from electronics … maybe
By: Felix Yang Wu
Issue date: 11/23/09 Section: Opinion
Could you image what life would be like if we were still in the era when humans were barbaric, working hard to collect wild fruit and hunting wild animals to feed themselves? Did they entertain themselves occasionally, or just live a tough boring life? According to the research by some biologists, a lot of animals like penguins have some behaviors which are not directly related to their living, which means they just do it for fun. So as our ancestors are much more developed than penguins or any other animals, I have evidence to assume that people used to try to live and play, without electronics.
Maybe we don't need to move that far back in time, it hasn't been over 500 years since the human discovery of electronics, the history of the computer didn't reach 100 years, which says nothing of the cell phone which has only recently started being widely used within 20 years. But could we still live without Television sets, computers, cell phones, MP3s, Internet, these being only some of the most normal electronic equipment in our daily life?
People have talked about electronic addiction increasing over many years. But actually not everyone becomes heavily addicted in sending text messages or playing Mafia Wars. Even if they do, we can clearly identify that kind of life style is sick. However, there are some things that electronic equipment has changed in our life that we can't refuse being bothered.
Suppose you just finished a hard assignment may be you worked through the night, and what you want to do is stay alone and get a rest. So you turn off your cell phone, pull out the phone line. Several hours later, when you wake up everybody seemed mad at you because you dared to turn your phone off!!! This is just a simple example in our electronic time, we suppose we don't have the right to hide from others. And quite on the contrary, we don't have the right to choose the way we contact people. When everybody gets a cell phone you'd better get one, when everyone uses some Internet space like Facebook, Myspace or Twitter, you'd better have one.
When I just got in America, I got rid of most of my so called high tech machines. What I feel was just like Robinson Crusoe on that tropical island, I'm on an island in modern Portales. Then I had to recapture all of the electronic equipment to keep the connection with the outside world.
Maybe we can't enjoy life without electronics, but maybe sometimes we can turn all these things off just to get the simple unsophisticated life back for a short time.
Maybe we don't need to move that far back in time, it hasn't been over 500 years since the human discovery of electronics, the history of the computer didn't reach 100 years, which says nothing of the cell phone which has only recently started being widely used within 20 years. But could we still live without Television sets, computers, cell phones, MP3s, Internet, these being only some of the most normal electronic equipment in our daily life?
People have talked about electronic addiction increasing over many years. But actually not everyone becomes heavily addicted in sending text messages or playing Mafia Wars. Even if they do, we can clearly identify that kind of life style is sick. However, there are some things that electronic equipment has changed in our life that we can't refuse being bothered.
Suppose you just finished a hard assignment may be you worked through the night, and what you want to do is stay alone and get a rest. So you turn off your cell phone, pull out the phone line. Several hours later, when you wake up everybody seemed mad at you because you dared to turn your phone off!!! This is just a simple example in our electronic time, we suppose we don't have the right to hide from others. And quite on the contrary, we don't have the right to choose the way we contact people. When everybody gets a cell phone you'd better get one, when everyone uses some Internet space like Facebook, Myspace or Twitter, you'd better have one.
When I just got in America, I got rid of most of my so called high tech machines. What I feel was just like Robinson Crusoe on that tropical island, I'm on an island in modern Portales. Then I had to recapture all of the electronic equipment to keep the connection with the outside world.
Maybe we can't enjoy life without electronics, but maybe sometimes we can turn all these things off just to get the simple unsophisticated life back for a short time.