Posted 2/15/21
“Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky. Phil. 2:14-15
Tech On Trial
We are only given so much time
The older I get, the easier this truth is to see
We squeeze every second like a lime
Then look back and get melancholy.
So with my poem I will judge
Are things really better now than the tech-free, good ole days?
Each day in this digital age we trudge
Does all of this technology bring the joy it portrays?
Social Media: Exhibit A
Logging into them takes moments, leaving takes an hour
Cat memes, political fights, dismay
The stress caused, time wasted slowly causing our smiles to sour.
This winter presents Exhibit B
Snowed out of work and school, we played outside with our folks
In the name of productivity
Now we exchanged family bonding, fun for digital yokes.
Streaming TV is Exhibit C.
Back in the day we waited to find out who shot JR
Now we blast through whole shows in a day
Vegging on the couch with the fam, not knowing who they are.
Who cares? I do! Here’s Exhibit D
My mom sits alone; tech seems powerless to help her there
Dementia/isolation, not free
Brain broken death penalty: Zooms can never repair.
Why judge tech on a different scale?
Your honor, pre-tech days didn’t cure dementia either.
Yes, a cure’s speed has slowed like a snail
By a society too busy on their phone, computer and work for a breather.
So I sentence you, tech, to your cell
I won’t throw the book at you yet, regardless what’s deserved
Find a dementia cure, end this hell
I’ll free you (early) with time well-served.
Did I judge you, tech, unfairly rough?
In moderation tech is helpful and memes are quite fun!
Finding us a cure is quite enough
To sway judge and jury of your worth, my work here is done.
Guilty…until proven innocent. 😉
Hi Digital Cornbread family! I hope you had a nice weekend! It was eventful here. Blizzard. Snowed in. Binging Netflix. Watched church on Facebook (only slightly better than not going at all). Technology has been and will continue to be my vocation, but, at times (see poem above), I lament how technology has failed to live up to the promise. I do love technology. I listen to Audible while I run. I share this blog all over the free world. I have folks from all over the county email me, comment on the blog, join my support group (which happens tomorrow night BTW…let me know if you want a Zoom invite), and connect in ways not possible pre-tech. I raise money here and there, kicking and screaming, for causes I care deeply about. Medicine, in many ways, has been made better by tech. Lifespans increased for the most part. I guess my problem is that it seems so much like all we care about is pleasure and fun and frivolity and comfort with our devices that we have lost the plot in using it to fix the ills that plague us. Is having a Smart Toilet or Bluetooth toothbrush going to fix my mom’s broken brain? Sigh…. Thank you for enduring my poetic rant. (Insert your pre-Boomer, Boomer teases in the comments below)
Update: Mom is about the same as far as I can tell on my small computer screen. I am glad I can see her with a Zoom periodically, but it is a hollow victory to see her and have her not “see” me back. Such is the satisfaction I get with technology. We just need to keep using the stuff…using big data…to find a cure. Then I will shut up and complain about something else online. 😉 I have another video call with her in a couple of days. Praying she continues to stay stable.
#EndALZ
BTW…do you want to help tech be part of the solution instead? One idea: Find a clinical trial in which to participate. Here is the one I will soon be involved in: Link Poking and prodding and feeding the data to technology not your thing? Here is the site to find what is your thing in this area: Trial Match
Last mini-rant: I feel like an infinitely less wise/rich, non-royalty version of King Solomon these days. Vanity, vanity. But do know this…no cure will ever happen without the Lord’s guidance. Tech is just a tool that He may or may not use. We shall see…
If you want to take a free college course on our topic called “Understanding Dementia”, here is the link. It is excellent!