The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking.”
― Albert Einstein
I guess my face must have registered shock, because she hastily assured me it wasn't her normal practice. But it made me realize how much we all need understanding of so many things and so many people in this world.
It was important to me to show her and a group of young friends this Christmas what happens to plastic bags. Oh yes, there was some eye-rolling, but after they settled down there was quiet horror when they absorbed the impact of plastic on their environment.
None of them had heard about the island of plastic that has formed in The Pacific ocean. But now they have, and it would be nice to think that each one will do their share in recycling, and making minimal use of plastic from now on.
The sped up life 2015 - will it increase in tempo?
Right now, I'm striving to understand the new way of thinking in this new techno world of ours.
To those of us who managed quite well before the advent of microwave ovens, cellphones and the internet, just to name a few things, this is a world gone mad.
Everything seems to be sped up. People are sped up so much that even childhood is being discarded just like those plastic bags. It's a stunning thought that maybe this is just one of the new practicalities in life. It's something I could not have dreamed of ... the full ramifications of an altered society.
This Christmas, children as young as eight-years-old are business entrepreneurs as shown on TV. They publicly pitch their enterprises to the world -- polished, and rehearsed. Amazing. Two-year-olds now handle iPads with aplomb and delight. They don't like to play, except on those tablets.
I asked a geek friend the other day about Google. Who or what isGoogle? Well, it's a search engine, some of us know that, but did you know just two young guys came up with it? Yep, Larry Page and Sergey Brin have given us all what we love to know about in life.
Has it got out of hand? I mean, Google appears to be all powerful sometimes. Just ask the writers' websites about that. Google every now and again comes up with something called a Panda update, and that literally throws everyone into a frenzy.
I don't know what it is, but then neither does anyone else that I know of. Apparently there are engineers who work full time at google, developing new algorithms. (Yeah, I don't know what that means either.) It seems to be a formula for working things out.
Anyhow these algorithms determine how websites are rated, in order of their importance, and they get a shake up every now and then, which sends some of us plummeting down in the algorithms ratings, and consequently the earnings you can get from your website.
People get upset, naturally. But no one knows how the algorithms actually work, so it's really like trying to hold onto a greased pig to figure it out.
So I can't help thinking, do Larry and Sergey actually run the world? At least they seem to keep a low profile.
Trying to understand the new world order
Knowledge and garbage seem to increase day by day. This is a throwaway society. I feel the loss of many interesting things in life that used to exist and are no longer part of everyday life.
I wonder if tech knowledge might increase so rapidly and so ruthlessly that it won't be able to be handled, even by all those brilliant clicking minds that are daily applied to new, wonderful thoughts and things.
Is there a point where knowledge actually implodes upon itself? I don't know, and probably no one else does. Where is Stephen Hawking when you need him?
But just in case 2015 happens to be that year, I'm going to dig out my little hammer and chisel, also brush up on my cuneiform writing, and find some good rocks.
If it worked for others many eons ago, maybe it'll work for me too.
One thing's certain. It'll certainly slow life down!