We are becoming stupider. Yes, you too.
April 17, 2007Stop! Think of a good friend. Do you picture him or her? Now try and remember his or her phone number. I’m sure you remember what number to hold down on your cellphone to get through via speed dial, but their actual number? Nah, you probably have to look it up on your cell phone. And only a few years ago you could recite the land line number of each family member and friend, including their work numbers…
OK, now think about this. Would you be able to spell the word “specialise” correctly. You live in South Africa. Why would you spell it as “specialize”? Where did the “z” come from? Microsoft Word, that’s where. We don’t live in goddamn Kansas, people. We inherited the Queen’s bloody English. That’s an “s” for you and I, and a “z” for our freedom-spreading cousins across the pond. Try typing something in note pad for a change and see how that feels.
Now, let’s see. When did we begin losing all sense of grammar and spelling in emails? Why do we have to type “CU at the meeting, bring notes - I 4got”. What in the hell? Are we just plain lazy? Have we become so backwards that we can’t even take the time to string a sentence together correctly?
What poppycock.
So this brings me to my favourite peeve - the ubiquitous cell phone. You may have the thumbs of an Olympian, capable of SMSing 4000 words per minute, but they aren’t really words are they if they consist of “4get it, I’ll CU in 5, got sum guy cumin at 3 to chk my toilet. leaking agn, lol. WTF?”
Freakin’ hell people, are we losing the plot here?
Yes, we may call it the natural evolution of human society as we move forwards to faster things thanks to the doubling of processing power every half-decade, but really, I believe it would be more apt to call it DEVOLUTION. In the not too distant future we will be wired to our GPSs, too comatose to realize where we are and simply making slight adjustments to the steering wheel as a spritely female voice tells us “Left Turn in 300 metres.” Imagine where we’d be if, Jah forbid, some rampant solar flare takes out all electronic devices. We would be completely incapable of doing our washing, heating up our TV dinners, toasting bread, finding our way to the shops or picking up a phone to ask if the lights are out at your house too?
Madness.
As a technophile I feel half ashamed for this little rant, but just take a look in a full-sized mirror and you’ll see something that no amount of technology has been able to reproduce: a human being. With less than 2% of your brain being adequately utilized, you should be able to wean yourself off MXIT for at least half an hour, surely?
OK, bye 4 now, will c u all l8er. Got to think of something l33t to post next time.
