Credit where credit is due.

Neil Postman. (I guess his mother had an affair).
Technopoly


The idea is: what is progress. Not a new idea by any account and not even one that Postman was directly addressing. It was a statement about the ambition of men, including Sir Isaac Newton and Kepler (who is credited with discovering the year of Christ's birth- 4 or 5 BC), in exploring science. It was for "speculative satisfaction, rather than for the sake of progress. That made me wonder, what is the point of progress and why is our nation, especially, so concerned with it? I suppose a pre-eminent question then is, what is progress? What does progress mean to our society, would perhaps be a more precise wording. I think progress means advancements made in any area of study that might make improvements to life as we know it. Given that definition though, progress is closely linked to satisfaction, on one, superficial level. I suppose that makes me question the depth of my concerns for our society, if nothing else, it keenly exposes my situation in a class-based environment. So that I do not have to self-defeat at this moment I'll go ahead and explore my first answer through examples of what progress would be, tangibly, given the above definition. For me, it would be discoveries in science about the stars and the planets and what space is really like. Perhaps that is only a matter of explanations in language I can comprehend. Space atoms and the speed of light do not compute very well for me. Put it in terms of exploration and similarities to what I already know and I would be hooked. "The distance from you to the moon is another way of saying that I would be ten years older by the time I made it there if I left now" or "If there was a colony of Earthlings on Planet Mars, they would have skipped their thirtieth birthdays and automatically would have been forty." Is that how it works? I have no idea, but metaphors, examples those are the way my mind works. So, anyway, that is one way my mind would progress, advance, look forward to the future. Another way  I would catalogue progress would be any inventions that solved problems. In that way, it is a different definition than that of the philosophers. An example of this would be a cure to the trouble with transportation. Real progress would be air-friendly, time efficient, affordable (for all!), means of getting to and from anywhere one wanted and needed to go. And, why not? Why shouldn't this exist now? Wouldn't it solve the problem of disputes abroad or dependency? Wouldn't it enable those without jobs to get where they needed to go, without limitation? Anyways, I think that would be an awesome invention.
Back to the idea of progress. Postman's point, so far, seems to be that with every invention there have been positive and negative effects. I think the most interesting has been writing. I approached his book with a grudge towards technology, but when he presented writing as an equal, albeit more distant, enemy, I was impressed that writing could have done what the internet currently does. Creates an illusion of what once existed and they both came through like wrecking balls. What once was is no longer and can never be resurrected because a new way of life quickly emerges and replaces all old notions of what was. It is nostalgic, it feels heavy to me, because part of me carries a hope that this new dependency on technology would disappear. A part of me does not want to become comfortable with a life of electronics, but it seems also that my fight is useless. I shudder at that because that option, seems bleak. I don't like and it might be such a strong feeling because I'm not comfortable with what such an option implies. Why would I be? Every day, it seems like, a new report is issued about the dangers of cell-phones and once we stop listening, it is the danger of facebook or the danger of watching tv. Why would anyone give-up on these luxuries and hours of enjoyment when there is so little else to replace them or when they were created for the exact purpose of demolishing what previously existed? I'm spent and with no real solution. Avoidance can only work for so long and what about when my barriers are weak, is there no excuse for that, no allowance? That seems fair enough. Stop whining, get out there and change what I want change and don't do what I'd rather not. I pray for the intelligence to come up with alternatives that satisfy and encourage me. Thank you God for this day and for all that you provide. Amen.