Hal - Deliberately Basic

There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.
William Shakespeare, “Hamlet”

My grandfather did not understand electricity, and never had it in his house. No, I am not 150 years old. In fact, at 62, I’m not considered all that old by the standards of today. My grandfather lived in a very rural area, and even though electrical power was available, he chose not to take advantage of it. He had reached a point in his life where technology was beyond his grasp. Besides, his books, good conversation, rhetorical argument and his garden was all he wanted in the last years of his life.

Some would say this is foolish. Why not make use of newfangled technology if it can make your life easier? My question is, who can define easier? If you live long enough, you will reach a point where you no longer care, or you simply cannot see that the latest umbilical cord tied to your house is interesting, or that it may make your life easier.

People lived and thrived for thousands of years before the marvels of the current age. There is a saying in the Tao, for every gain there is a loss, for every loss there is a gain. Prior to our Internet driven society today, life was simpler, and for many, much more pleasurable. I love having all this knowledge at my fingertips. What an incredible thing this is. Conversely, I see younger people losing the warmth of real human contact as the web develops more and more social networking sites. We are inundated with information. We are overwhelmed with technology that moves too fast for the average person to know what even exists, let alone use it.

I have worked in this field for years, yet for  the last ten years or so, I can’t keep up with most of the new gadgets and technological  breakthroughs. As I age, I find that I have no need for most gadgets. I wonder, at what point will I no longer comprehend a certain technology, or see any value in it. Real foolishness is failure to reevaluate your life as you age. Time becomes more important than things, because you know your time is for the most part already spent.

I have long questioned the idea that even if people could live to 150 years old, would they choose to do that. Could it be that we die, given age and change, because we no longer understand the world? Although grossly oversimplified, by chance we leave to make room for those who do understand.

A friend recently told me, “Every morning I wake up on this side of the dirt is a blessing.” The real irony is, if you read this, it’s because I’ve used current technology to make that possible. At some point, if you have any desire to discuss things with me, you will probably have to come down and sit for a spell on the porch.

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