A DARK CLOUD OVER THE HIGH-TECH ERA

Back in college, I encountered the argument that the more people were engaged in long-range planning, the less possible long-range planning became. In other words, as they put their assumptions into action, the entire field shifted.

Or, put another way, the fewer givens could be counted on ahead. That farm where you wanted to build a mall may already be a housing development or the interest rates may have soared out of sight or malls themselves may have given way to Amazon.

It was also all part of a recognition of the rapidly changing social world ahead, as we’re seeing in our high-tech era. Just where do people get together nowadays, anyway? As for dating?

Over the summer, I sat in on a workshop trying to look at some of the ethical issues we Quakers face in adapting to the use of Internet/social media in maintaining our faith communities, including the possibilities of online committee meetings rather than sitting down in one space together.

There are other issues the greater society faces, such as the rewiring of the human brain as a consequence of early-childhood online time or our “multitasking” activities. The ability to sit down and read complicated, nuanced long works is no doubt in jeopardy. As is, likely, the time for moral reflection. (Does that explain some of the latest developments in the presidential primary posturing?)

We didn’t get far in that direction, though, apart from looking at some of the pros and cons of our own Internet use. As an avid blogger and the author of ebooks, I had my own list.

The part I keep returning to, however, has to do with something at the core at what we’re using. Our screens, laptops, smart-phones, networks, and so on are all dependent on rare-earth elements, which – as their name reflects – are scarce commodities. Not just because they’re hard to find, either, but because they occur in low concentrations where they exist. It’s ecologically costly to extract them. Add to that, they’re mostly found in China – and the known sources are running out. (As the saying goes, the Mideast has oil, China has the rare earth supply.)

Remember, too, high-tech equipment is obsolete the day it’s produced – the next generation is already on the way.

Now you can add this to my neo-Luddite concerns.

I’ve long harbored suspicions about who’s paying for all of our “free” online usage. (Well, Firefox and Wikipedia are now pleading for donations after spoiling us into getting used to having something for nothing. I’ll assume most folks won’t contribute until they have to. Leave the voluntary donations to others.)

I remember the joys of hitchhiking, as well as how quickly it all ceased.

So here we are, all the same. Let’s see what’s around the corner.