It's life in the fast lane on the Information Highway.
Lately, I've been feeling burnt-out, maxed-out, and, in general, flipped-out. I keep asking myself: why?
It's the Information Age, stupid!
We're moving into a new, exciting time. With computers, so much more can be done so much quicker than ever thought possible. But this new age brings with it some uncertainty and angst.
If you take a very simplistic world view, you'd see agrarian, feudal, agrarian, and industrial periods. We are now firmly in the grasp of the information and services age -- or the information services age. Heck, let's just call it the Information Age.
What's really scary is that it's becoming more apparent each day that we're only strolling down the walkway to the front door. We haven't even opened the passageway to the full-flung Information Age.
It's not that I fear change. Well, I don't think I fear it any more than anyone else. It's the pace of the change and the inability of people to ever work or think as fast as a computer.
Rate of change. Whew! Do you believe it? Five years ago folks were touting desktop computers that were even more powerful than a 1950's vacuum-tube computer that filled an entire room.
Now, itty-bitty laptops lap these desktops in performance many times over. Who knows? Maybe even faster, more powerful computers will be worn on our wrists like watches before the millennium makes its grand entrance.
Anyone who works with computers knows that the life of any new equipment is now measured in months instead of years. How can we keep up? And what price will we pay in term of mental and physical costs, trying to maintain this torrid pace of progress?
How about a race? Who wants to be the John Henry of the 1990's and attempt to out-do, out-think, and out-run the ever-present computer chip? Of course, most of us who do office work and deal with word processors and spreadsheets are in that situation now.
No matter how well or fast we work, we can (and should, by golly) always be doing it quicker and better. That's the environmental stress we face. Talk about exhausting!
Information is wonderful. It's power. It's connection. Many want to be well-informed and up-to-date. But the task of staying ahead of the information power curve is nearly impossible. It's like trying to sprint the 26.2-mile Marathon.
What's the antidote to all this mental stimuli and bombardment? Maybe it's going to the library and reading a newspaper from the "slow-paced" 1970's. Maybe it's reading a 18th or 19th century classic. Maybe it's taking in one of the zagillion mindless sitcoms on TV. Whatever it is, such respite from the ever-increasing tempo of life and data sharing is essential.
There's a limit to how much we can take. I think we've reached it. If not, we're darn close. Perhaps we'll become accustomed to it and raise ourselves to a higher plateau of saturation. Don't think we really have a choice. Do you? Such is our legacy as we enter into the 21st century.
I wonder what's in store for the post-Information Age? Perhaps it'll be mediation, prayer, sitting on beaches, and banning newspapers, TV's, radios, and any other forms of electronic transmissions.
Possibly we'll have massage shops as omnipresent as 7-11's, McDonalds, and Pizza Huts. Imagine the billboards. Maggie's Masseuses -- over three billion shoulders soothed. Perhaps they'll also be virtual reality arcades where, in five minutes (remember we don't have much time!), you'd receive the same sense of serenity and rejuvenation as playing 18 holes of (good) golf, exercising strenuously for one hour, or taking an invigorating dip in a cool stream. There'd be a near limitless supply of battery recharging stations for our wrecked souls and psyches.
Sure. All this will happen.
Didn't I tell you I was flipped out?
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Fred W. Apelquist, III, M.Ed.
Approximately 650 words.
(C) 1997