What Can I Tell You That You Do Not Already Know?
The answer is obvious : nothing. But is that really it?
Image Source : Flickr
With the era of the internet came the era of explosion of information. Everything we need to know, everything we want to know is now available at our fingertips. Mind-blowing ease of access has replaced the ideas of inquiry, investigation, memory, and the good old-fashioned intrigue. There are no secrets, no thrills, no suspense tying us to our world anymore.
Is it a good thing? Is it a bad thing? I don’t know. The answer, like everything else in life, depends on the context. It doesn’t only depend on who you ask. It also depends on where it is asked, how it is asked, and who is doing the asking.
But if we put away our will to box it in black and white for a moment, the answer is also very obvious. Technology and its tools are just that…tools. They are means, not the end. And the nature of the end they lead will always depend on us, the user.
So maybe the explosion of information killed patience and our willingness to enjoy the wait for answers. But what it birthed was an opportunity to dig deeper, look further, and ask questions that generations before us did not even imagine asking.
Technology did not kill intrigue. It allowed us to find layers of intrigue that had thus far been hidden by the mundane.
To be curious is a defining human trait. I have a baby in the house whose curiosity extends to everything from the unopened container of vegetable oil to the match that is struck for lighting a candle to the TV that plays strange shapes, and even the dog who makes a noise she can imitate. Nobody taught her to be curious. And she doesn’t give up her quests because the answers she is looking for are too easy or too easily available. She moves on, from curious to curiouser.
We are born curious. Technology is merely a reflection of endless human curiosity channeled into a tool. And in the realm of the infinite intrigue that is the Universe, Google is but a drop.
We don’t need to discover new galaxies although finding them wouldn’t hurt. But if we want to remain curious, and retain the thrilling suspense of our existence, plumbing the depths of our consciousness will do. And that is no rocket science. All we need is to stay away from cynicism and allow ourselves to be amazed. By the big things. And the small. By the moments of joy, and of sorrow. Of love, and wonder.
We need to find it in ourselves to be astounded and enjoy it. Astounded by not just the twittering birds, the swaying trees, the incomprehensible wisdom of Nature. But also by what Google can teach us, and what it can’t. By science and innovation. By the vagaries of human nature. By our similarities that are so striking, and the differences that define us.
Technology is our chance to redefine how we live our lives and experience the magnificent joys of our existence. It is an opportunity. If only we learn to use it.