Drowning in Electronic Communication...
Monday, September 22, 2008
Being always connected to the “grid” far from makes our lives more convenient and efficient. As a result of the internets (sic), mobile phones, pagers, email, social networking etc. our lives are moving at a faster pace than ever. The predictions made back in the 80’s on how technology would change our lives in the future centred around a common theme: more leisure time - where technology and computers would attend to all of our bidding, leaving us (in our shiny foil like overalls) to sip milkshake, and sit in our own version of swivelling Big Brother chairs.
The reality is so far from this however, one would actually question the basis of them. People are almost slaves to the technology around them (to extents that can be described as psychological addictions). People experience this in varying forms, from users of BlackBerrys (aka CrackBerrys), who are continually interrupted by amplitudes of emails; to mobile phone users who’s to and fro of text messages consume them. Instead of waiting days for a response, we are able to reply in real time, soliciting further communication (i.e. the response to the response), leaving us embroiled in electronic heck.
Furthermore work is no longer sitting at an office, with mobile technologies, it is now a state of mind one is asked to switch on and off as required. But the problem is that many people cannot switch off, being plagued by push systems (converse to pull systems such as traditional email) wherever they go and at whatever time.
We do get more done, but the stresses we put ourselves in are counter to what we are physically capable of as human beings. Certain health conditions and medical ailments are seeing record numbers, with doctors attributing the causes primarily to stress and overworking.
So what’s the solution? Is there a solution? Do we all give up our laptops and swanky mobile phones and retreat to the countryside?
I personally find switching off my mobile phone at certain time during the day very helpful. I also try and avoid replying instantly to certain non-urgent emails to slow down the pace of dialogue. That said - I’m sure everyone has their own tried and tested ways of dealing with the drowning communication problem - it would be great if you could share them below.
The end is nigh...
Saturday, September 06, 2008
Have been thinking recently about how our reliance on oil puts us in line for a self deprecating doomsday style scenario.
Its given fact that the supply of world oil is not only limited, but on the verge of running out within our lifetime (some estimates say as early as 2020). The requirement of oil as a result of an increasing world population, emerging economies, and even highly established economies means that our rate of consumption is increasing exponentially, such that with already a finite amount left, we are closing in on the last drop at a faster rate than ever before.
Associating this thought with the basic economic laws of supply and demand… we saw quite recently due to various variables (war, Opec, governments etc.) the price of oil in the world markets increased quite dramatically. Now imagine what would happen as we move closer and closer to that end value. Prices of oil will continue to rise exponentially - causing higher inflation (food prices, commodities etc costing more due to the increased cost to businesses in the pre-shelf process - e.g. processing using machinery, transportation - being transferred onto the consumers) - to the point that oil will be a luxury of the few. This will have a follow on effect on other businesses/services, resulting in less food production, again reducing supply, and shooting prices further through the roof.
So if the outcome is so real and adverse then why isn't anything substantial being done about it? There are many theories to this doing the airwaves, ranging from oil companies (who make billions of pounds from oil every year) suppressing the growth of the renewable energy market as it would heavily impact their biggest/sole revenue stream; to governments blindly overlooking the facts due to their interests within the oil markets (oil companies “donate” heavily to US politicians and there are also a high number of politicians known to have sizable shares and assets within the companies).
At this rate, this seems to be a given result that very few of us can do anything about. Sure we can individually invest in more "green" solutions... but unless there is mass uptake (more notably by businesses) we are left open to a collision course to a very dire scenario.
