Technology Fatigue, OneStep Forward, Two Steps Back

If technology allows us to extend ourselves, does it also allow us to overextend ourselves? My experience this week led me to think so. Trying to balance between school and work, I tend to use an old-fashioned technology to support myself. That's right, I'm talking about coffee! Every Saturday I work till 3 A.M. and drink coffee to stay awake; on Sunday I tend to sleep late as a result, and stay up late to make up for lost study time. Because of a Geology test, I kept myself up late each night this week to study, and by Thursday evening, I basically crashed. I wonder if this is not a symptom of our society's embrace of technology.

The internet allows us to connect globally, and our personal computers allow us to store and access exponentially higher levels of information beyond our physiological capabilities. Theoretically, the availability of all this information should facilitate intellectuals to examine a diverse range of ideas. Certainly diversity of thought would not foment any kind of consensus, but I initially thought that some streamlining of the discussion would take place. Yet, if you look at the website, www.realclearpolitics.com, you see that the opposite is true. Instead of reigning in the wackiness, we seem to have an even larger expansion of Mickey Mouse journalism. Half the magazines portray the Republican Party as racist, mysoginistic, servants of the ultra-wealthy and the other half argue that the Democratic Party is group of pot-smoking, sex-crazed socialists. A bit of a tangent I will admit, but my point is that the technological advances of journalism and politics have not really brought any maturity to the discussion.

I also wonder if this applies to our current dilemma in South Asia. I wonder, if our country had not mastered its global military reach, maybe we would have been forced to find less fossil fuel-exhausting methods of generating electricity and transportation. Technological advancement has also enhanced the power of international terrorism. I mean seriously, why else would the Pashtun tribesman of Afghanistan matter to us (or us to them)? In the context of two wars, it seems that our advancements have facilitated destruction more than growth.

Sadly, my fatigue has reduced me to yet another "Negative Nancy." I blame technology.