Who could have ever imagined where technology has taken us and where technology will take the world? Over the centuries, there have been some great visionaries - notably Leonardo D'Vinci, Thomas Edison, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Graham Bell, Galileo, Stephen Hawking, Steven Jobs - just to name names on the tip of the iceberg. Visionaries are people who see "things" that the rest of us may never even dream about. They have 3-D vision without the aid of 3-D goggles. About the only "things" I envision are the possibilities and outcomes of music that I select for a performing group.
While I can envy the ability to see in 3-D without goggles, I can imagine that this rare gift might also be or become a curse. With greatness comes great expectations......although some of the world's great visionaries of the past were not considered "great" while they were alive. Many of them were simply considered kooks - weirdos, even charlatans of their time and it was only in death, and perhaps the passage of time, that their contributions to the world were realized and acknowledged. Being a great genius is no guarantee of happiness.
Why am I writing about this? Multiple items have recently come to my attention and are swirling aboot, much like a philosophical "perfect storm". I've known for several weeks that "Happy Day" will be observed in a few days and an email notification, of sorts, came through this morning, reminding me once again. OK, so Hallmark, American Greetings and the grumpy Shoebox lady will have a field day and will bring in some additional revenue just prior to Valentines Day, when the marketing gurus will do their best to make those people not in a relationship of some sort feel rotten, sad, depressed, and unworthy. But, hey, that is free enterprise. (Take note: We should all feel happy on National Happy Day then three days later some people can have their short-lived happiness dashed upon the rocks. But, hey, three days of happiness is better than none.)
Finally, I opened up an email from a friend who sent information on a website that does world-wide tracking of ships of all types. As I perused through the website and various links, I was mentally blown away by the sophistication of genius that it takes to develop all of the working parts that must come together to be able to sit at a computer in Walla Walla, Washington and see where your fleet of fishing boats is (boat-by-boat) in the South China Sea. My thoughts then strayed to my "smart phone", thanks to the genius of Steven Jobs, et al. Everyone of us who has a smart phone can be tracked, via internal GPS. Does the knowledge that I can be the tracker - or the tracked - bring me happiness? Do I really want Papa Government to know where I am 24-7? Do we really want to know that we can know where everything and everyone is all the time?
All these questions add up to a giant headache. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that too much knowledge is not always the best solution and that ignorance can truly be bliss.
I can't wait for my three days of happiness to begin this Saturday. Bring it on.
Ancora imparo
