The world has seen more acceleration in the advancement of technology during the last century and particularly over the last 20 years, than perhaps in any other period in history and naturally, it is increasingly encroaching on our lives. To embrace technology, willingly meet the challenges it brings and make more use of it to enhance one's experience of life is the natural tendency of the wayfarer. Getting Around (August 1997) Editorial Techno-Turmoil (April 1997) The world seems to be spilt into those who love technology, the technophiles and those who fear and hate it, the technophobes. The latter however, are on a losing streak, for them, prospering in an increasingly technical world is going to get very difficult indeed. Getting Around (August 1997) Editorial While sitting in a hospital waiting room recently and desperate for reading matter, we happened upon an old Reader’s Digest. What took our attention was an article titled ‘Why you can’t program your VCR’. Within the article was an example of a very similar case to that mentioned in our article “Tough Love” in Magazine Four. Mary Pat Hay and her husband Bill had recently purchased a new Stereo TV, Stereo VCR, CD Player and Tuner. Mary Pat, the article states, has found a novel way to deal with the three remote controls. She gets up, walks across the room and operates the machines manually. The absurdity of the wasted functions are not lost on the couple, but rather than being embarrassed, both seem very justified in their lack of technical mastery. Bill Hay even proudly gives the example of his brother-in-law who was a brilliant designer of computer-testing programs for the Apollo Moon shots. “But readily admits that he cannot operate his VCR. If he isn’t embarrassed, why should I be?” Ultimately the Reader’s Digest article blames the manufacturers and complicated equipment design and instructions for the difficulties, we may of course have other ideas about the reasons, however what is interesting is the confirmation yet again, of a world-wide epidemic of ‘techno-ineptitude’. And the problem, as indicated above is not confined to the non-technical. You can get by in the modern world as a technophobe and if you shut down to knowledge of technological advances you won’t know what you’re missing. But you will also not know how your life could be enriched and enhanced through the wonders of technology. Similarly you can get by in life without the subjects of this month’s articles. Things like: Sexuality, oneness, soul fulfillment, effective communication, appreciation of food and drink etc. Yes you can do without all these things and even be reasonably comfortable and if comfort is your only object in life then that’s OK. But if you have great aspirations for yourself, if you wish to progress as a being, to become more, then none of the above can be omitted or ‘got around’. Nor, if your vision is clear, would you wish to. Wayfarer International, Copyright © John & Melody Anderson, 1997 - 1999. All rights reserved. Techno-Turmoil (April 1997) The world seems to be spilt into those who love technology, the technophiles and those who fear and hate it, the technophobes. The latter however, are on a losing streak, for them, prospering in an increasingly technical world is going to get very difficult indeed. When it comes to learning, many of us seem to make the distinction between different types of learning and inevitably we tend to label these differences in terms of degree of difficulty. Much of adult learning seems to occur by implication, almost by accident as we stumble through some new task acquiring the required skills as we go along. How often the temptation occurs to fumble around with a new purchase, twiddling knobs and dials until the last possible moment before we are forced to read the instruction manual. For the most part this kind of hit and miss approach to learning will work reasonably satisfactorily. If we end up in the right place, it doesn’t really matter that we spent an extra twenty minutes searching for a street we could have found in a matter of minutes with a quick reference to a map, as long as we get there. However with the persistent advance of technology encroaching more and more on our daily lives the ability to learn, to learn quickly and to learn right is not only becoming more relevant, it is becoming a necessity. Typically the effects of the progress of technology eventually begin imposing themselves on the lives of ordinary people and before long what was once a novelty becomes a normal part of life and in some cases, indispensable. Anyone forced to do without a microwave oven once they’ve become accustomed to having one will testify to that. A glance at the life of the average individual will soon illustrate how much we have come to depend on technology as we approach the end of the millennium. Stereo, TV and video are staples in a majority of family homes and as technology becomes cheaper to produce more people can afford to use it. Even these, the most common forms of technology to be found in the possession of people everywhere are subject to the strange phenomenon of ‘techno-ineptitude’. The familiar catch-cry of ‘ I can’t even program my VCR’ is so often heard it’s practically a cliché. Remote controls litter homes the world over, watching television is still among the most popular leisure activities. But if so many of us don’t know how to use these things or merely scratch the surface of their technical capability, why have them at all? Are they really an enhancement in our lives or do they simply become a complication? The answer is likely to be ‘Who cares? We get by’. Technology has literally become a part of the furniture. Everybody has it. And whether or not they know how to make the most of it, it’s not going to go away. But is making the most of technology really the issue? As long as we can defrost a chicken or play a video from the local store, does it matter that we will never exploit the full powers of such appliances? Those of us with simple requirements may have no need for anything more than the most basic operations and besides we don’t have time to entertain irrelevancies. That’s fine for microwaves and videos even, but very soon getting by won’t be enough to see us survive the massive wave of technology coming crashing toward us. In order to ride the crest of this wave we’re going to have to change our relationship with technology and overcome the common tendency to set apart the learning of things technical from other less challenging forms of learning. And besides, why not make the most of it? The world is gradually acquiring a bias toward those individuals who can use technology with confidence and those who will not join them will be destined to feed on the crumbs of those who do. Internet banking is a classic example. Still in its infancy and yet to become a service widely on offer in this country, the rise of the electronic transaction will leave the technophobe waiting in queues and paying higher fees. Internet shopping can produce savings of more than 50% on many items otherwise more costly when purchased through traditional means (e.g. books and CDs), let alone what is available free to anyone with a computer and an Internet connection in the manner of books and educational material etc. With about 40% of American homes (according to one survey) having access to a computer and that trend sweeping the world, even those who choose to remain in the technical wilderness will be constantly confronted by technology all the same. Whether at work or through varieties of other avenues, computers are becoming a part of world culture and everyone will be forced to embrace them or suffer the increased complexity of trying to avoid them. The intriguing thing about learning is that generally, if you can learn one thing, you can learn another. Learning seems to be less about what you learn and more about how you learn. In theory, if you can learn how to tie your shoelaces, you can learn how to program a video. What’s the difference? Is tying laces really less technical or is it that the VCR just seems more technical. If we apply a few ‘techno words’ and include a manual would we suddenly feel less capable of learning this simple task? Thankfully most of us know how to tie laces; we learned it as kids. Perhaps if we had learned more about technology as children things wouldn’t seem so difficult. Young people are of course learning about technology at a young age and many of them are more proficient than the adults around them. Most adults however, never had that opportunity as children. The birth of these kinds of technologies is relatively recent. So what makes the video harder to learn than shoelaces? And incidentally, why do people often show such pleasure in their ineptitude? Perception seems to have a lot to do with how we begin learning something new, especially when our intention is to learn something technical. The expectation of difficulty can often lead to behaviors that actually increase the difficulty of effective learning. A common problem is the glazing of the eyes when reading the manual, that familiar syndrome of reading the words without taking in the meaning. Skim reading has a similar effect; vital information can be missed. But many of us don’t even get near the manual. Techno-ineptitude begins with decision. As a child the persistence with which we apply ourselves to the task of learning to tie shoelaces is monumental, despite the enormity of the challenge when we first begin. What seems to distinguish this kind of application from the apparent lack of application experienced by the techno-phobe is the presence, or in the case of the latter, the absence, of desire; the power of decision, the will to back it up, and the perseverance to produce results. Perhaps it simply comes down to relative values and a strong sense of requirement. Wayfarer International, Copyright © John & Melody Anderson, 1997 - 2002. All rights reserved.