In today’s world, we have so much at our disposal. Technology that previously occupied room upon room of space to do a few calculations now makes up a small part of even a common calculator. Let me ask you this… is having all this technology always great?
Occasionally on Twitter, I read tweets along the lines of “20 years ago today, I was climbing trees” or “#whenIwasYourAge I rode my bike to school every morning”. Is technology part of what has caused this generation shift?
Many people refer to “Generation-Y”… the youth. The “young people” who are to “make a difference in the world”. I’d say that we’re entering a new age of “Generation-O”- the “plugged in” youth of today who seek to optimise every facet of their lives through technology.
Every day, I examine things I do daily and ask myself, “how can I optimise this?” “How can I make this process ‘easier’?” As I hit “Publish” on this post, it’ll be tweeted, Facebooked and Buffered, essentially optimising the sharing of the post. This stems from the question of “how can I optimise this?”.
Are these questions always necessary? Probably not.
Over the holiday season and entering into the new year, I’ve been finding methods of stepping aside from technology from time to time to take pleasure out of the natural joys we have all around us… walking on the beach, going for a drive by the ocean. These times led me to start thinking about the concept of “Generation-O”. Growing up in the 90’s, I was one of those kids who rode their bike every day and had fun in the forest. I feel as though I am of the final generation who enjoyed these activities, which technology seems to have replaced.
If you find yourself in this technological loop, try to step aside and just spend an hour or so taking a walk on the beach, in the silence, gathering your thoughts. While technology is great, it’s important to remember that even the smartest computer requires a human being to flick the “on” switch. 😉
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