Welcome to my blog, I’m assuming there will be a new flux of people flocking here due to the title. Technology savvy folks coming to read up on new technology and all they get is the anxious riddled ramblings of a neurotic middle-aged empty-nester. Don’t go, though! Stay! You might learn something new. Damn it! Lost some new readers by the droves, perhaps I should not have over shared in the first paragraph. Well, I’m pretty true to  my nature. So I did promise to talk about technology in the title, I guess I should start.

First I have in my possession a particular brand of products as if I have some sort of affiliation with them, I do not, I just know how to use them. Not to their full capacity, mind you, I use my watch as an actual watch that I can text from. Funny observation from my youngest little angel, “Mom leaves her phone everywhere now because she has her watch. I found her phone sitting outside the other day and mom was nowhere to be found.” So anyway, I find the products super easy to use, as common ordinary things with a twist.

How have we gone too far with technology, you ask? The other day I mentioned that I wanted to go to Greece, using my mouth talking to another human being in person (like the old lady that I am) and then my social media page shows up with Greece advertisements for me. I mean I checked it out because I’m serious that I want to go, but super fucking creepy, Right? People own those devices that they can just shout “Order me more toilet paper!” I mean first of all, have  Y’all tried talk to text? You are definitely not getting toilet paper. You’re going to get a case of some foreign candy from Sweden or Norway. What happens if you are just in the bathroom and you’re like “Fucking A, I am out of toilet paper!” But you just mean on the roll and then your device doesn’t know that because its a fucking robot and next thing you know you have six cases of Norwegian candy and you’re like “Who the fuck keeps sending me this?” and you don’t mind because you have developed a taste for it and you can’t find anything in the US that even comes close to it. Second of all, have you not seen any of those movies when we have fucking robots? Name one that doesn’t end poorly for humans, I’ll wait!

Also, I have read a study on the socialization of younger generations. They are finding it more difficult to socialize in person because on Social media society is very harsh and judgmental. People on social media try to be funny and sarcastic and perhaps just come off as dickish. Why would anyone want to talk to people in the real world when they are calling you a “fucking snowflake” because you care about the environment? And that’s on us, isn’t it? We can blame technology but we have to realize that we are representing ourselves every time we type into social media.

I, as a parent, gave my children cell phones if they were going to be out at their after school activities without me. New technology makes old technology obsolete, such as pay phones, the emergency phone of my day. That way they can reach out to me if they needed me to come pick them up or if there was an emergency. However, once you get them their first emergency phone they are not just using it as a phone.

My oldest daughter, when she got her first cell phone that was all that it could be used for. She could make phone calls and that was it. They also charged you by the minute so it was definitely only used for emergencies. But, before we knew it texting became a thing and shit a whole new language emerged because they charged you by the character. It wasn’t long before your cell phone became a tiny computer that you could obsess about and be insulted anywhere you go. You can be out to dinner with your family while on vacation and be insulted by a relative that you have not had any human contact with in over thirty years. That wasn’t the intent of social media, but that is the reality. Younger people may not realize that we don’t just walk up to a person and go at them for their beliefs and how they voted. They do not realize that in true civilization we are not quite so flagrant with our thoughts and behavior towards others. Then, why are we behaving like that on the internet. Again, that is on us.

Next, think of how many movies you have seen in your lifetime about computers and robots rising up and eliminating humans? I know that I have seen at least six. When I heard that they were creating robots to mimic humans, I was like “Well, this is it!” Robots could be learning our behavior from the worst of it “What we put on our social media pages” and think they know us. No  wonder they want to take us out in the future. We are assholes. I have read that they have created sex robots and that the sex robot has a virus that makes them murder. I mean humans do too, but what the actual fuck?

Has technology gone too far? Maybe, but we have too. We have gone and put our agendas out on our various and assorted social media pages and it has gotten a little out of hand. I’m not scolding you! I found myself doing this too. I have decided that my social media page doesn’t have to be about my worst fears and getting the last word in. I made the change toward lighthearted and positive messages because that’s who I want to be in real life too. I don’t need people to understand what I feel every minute of every day, because my feelings are on me. If I am having a bad day I have to figure that shit out on my own. I don’t have to get various members of society to come to champion me and give me a false sense of reality. If I have a bad day I have to look at my own viewpoint. The truth is a day can’t be neither good nor bad, it is what I am choosing to reflect upon that makes the day such. Sure there are plenty of things in our life that could happen that will impact us negatively. Truth is social media doesn’t change those things. A sense of camaraderie and community is good and we can definitely get that from social media. But it doesn’t replace a human hug. It doesn’t replace good old fashioned self discovery. It doesn’t replace sitting around the table playing a game of cards. It doesn’t replace laughing around a campfire.

What should we do? What can we do? I personally have chosen to put out uplifting messages for others to enjoy or scroll past. I have chose to put my best self out there. Some parents have come up with some really great ideas, such as on game night put your cell phones in a bowl. Some people have decided upon Limiting cell phone usage and screen time. Inviting friends over and getting the children engaged in games and play without their phones is also an option. Teaching etiquette is a “do as I do” situation. Sure seeing some of those memes can get you fired up, the truth is, they are supposed to. What would you do if someone antagonized you out in the real world? I know that I would walk past them. I would try not to make eye contact (which is my husband’s advice) and I would try my best not to engage. If you are passionate about something, that is great. If you would be the type of person that tells everyone you come in contact with, then go on and be yourself. But if you find yourself being someone you don’t recognize on the internet, perhaps take a step back and really do some self reflection.

Moral of my story: Has technology gone too far? The truth is we can utilize technology to be our best selves or we can allow it to run us into a completely uncharted territory of complete savagery. We are humans and what makes humans human? Some scientists would say it is our compassion. Some scientists would say it is our language skills. Some scientists would say that it is our large brains and what we create with it.

I think what makes us human is the hope that working together for a better community brings. Humans when they became bipedal began to make fires and sit around eating together. It brought protection. It brought socialization. It brought communication. Why sit around the blue lights of our computers trying to force others to see things our way? When instead we can be our best selves and offer our protection, socialization and communication in a more positive way. The way we would if we were face to face. Yes, and even take the time to be face to face with some of those people. I hope I didn’t scare you, but instead opened your eyes to the us we can become.

Until next time 🙂