Jean Stimmell, a retired mason and psychotherapist, lives in Northwood and blogs at jeanstimmell.blogspot.com.
Is technology crushing human creativity? That was the question asked in the Concord Monitor's May 11 article about recent Apple ads. “The tech giant's ad released on Tuesday shows a hydraulic press crushing nearly every creative instrument artists and consumers have ever used, from pianos and record players to Paints, books, cameras, even a pile of arcade game relics. The result of the destruction? The all-new iPad Pro.
This is another salvo in the quest for technology to transform us from flesh and blood into machines, which I have previously written about. Don't get me wrong. I don't deny high technology. I use Google to research articles and Adobe Lightroom to edit photos that are way more amazing than I could do in an old darkroom in my basement.
But it comes at a price. I can now see more clearly how technology is trying to sweet talk me down an alien rabbit hole populated by assembly line robots rather than Beethoven and Rumi.
Having this insight is one of the unexpected beauties of growing older. My body can no longer keep up with the lightning speed of today's world. Once unhooked, it meanders along with slow steps like a contented turtle.
As my body slows down, so does my mind. Of course, because they are her two parts of the same thing. I found myself abandoning the pressure cooker of modern life and daydreaming. This is a method praised by French philosopher Gaston Bachelard, who prioritized imagination over science. Once in such a state, he observed, it feels as if “we are standing in front of a great lake…and suddenly we are back in the distant past.” We dream while remembering. As we dream, we remember…the little things become big. ”
Engaging your mind and body in effortless daydreaming can have amazing benefits. That's because, according to Rebecca Solnit's “A Field Guide to Getting Lost,” “your mind, like your feet, moves at about 3 miles per hour.” If so, the techno-speed of modern life is more likely to cause nervous breakdowns than euphoria.
Solnit is one of the most brilliant intellectuals of our time. Thanks to her wisdom in her old age, it is now clear that she is right. My brain is moving at the same speed I'm trudging to the mailbox, not the gigabit speeds Apple is trying to sell me with its new iPad Pro.
The way my mind works should have been obvious a long time ago, as I still write first drafts of essays by hand on old-fashioned paper. Writing down initial thoughts is a creative part of my job, and I don't tolerate the rattling of keyboards or flashing laptop screens. To me, using a computer is like trying to listen to an album that is supposed to be played for a long time on a 33 rpm gramophone at 78 rpm.
Perhaps that is the true meaning of old age wisdom. Our minds have finally slowed down to Mother Nature's natural rhythms.
For most of human evolution, death was a constant presence, reminding us daily of our limitations. In our limited time here, we stayed present and paid homage to the living Earth.
And starting thousands of years ago, we began to augment our weak human condition with advances in technology. As a result, we have become so proud of ourselves that we have been fooled into believing that we are all-powerful. But at our core, we remain the same impulsive, short-sighted tribe members we have always been.
Sadly, technology has allowed us to surpass our physical limitations before we have developed the mental and moral capacity to use it wisely. If we don't change, we will end badly.
