No Rest until Blackheath Common by nigeruns

  Marathon log 29

We are all gold fish living in a gold fish bowl.....

Two radical things happened today, first I entered the Great Manchester Run, and secondly, I came over all philosophical. I came to the conclusion that one morning I will wake up and find that I have disappeared up my own backside. I will find that I don't exist anymore and I will be a nothing. The only evidence of my existence remaining will be a small microchip on my pillow.

My extinction may well be a scary thought, science fiction, stuff of Star Trek and what makes Jules Vern a good read. But the scariest thought of all is that this reality could just be waiting around the corner.

Why...?

We all live in a world of the computer, were everything is at our finger tips. We communicate by computer, the responsible adult works with a computer all day, while Yoda, ET and Zippy all play games endlessly on a computer. But could we exist without a computer in our lives. Will computers take over all our basic skill sets, or is it that we just can't be bothered to use those skills that we learnt at an early age, as there is potentially another technology to do it for us....?

You can't escape the computer. Even when I am out running, I run with a computer strapped to my wrist which acts as my virtual running partner. It tells me how far I have run, how fast we are running, and it also tells me if I have burnt off that beef burger that I had for lunch. It can also check my heart rate, and secondly, it can check to see if I have a heart at all.  But it has its limitations; it lacks the social graces of a running partner. It doesn’t tell dirty jokes or fart.....but I guess give it time. 

So were do we draw the line between basic skills and artificial intelligence...? If we are in danger of losing the ability to use basic skills, are we going to quickly tumble into a world of self helplessness...? We can shop online, so that we don't have to queue up at the checkouts and waste our valuable time. It could be a case that we can't be bothered to go out and shop, instead we sit in our goldfish bowls, surf the internet, and let the shopping come to us. In doing so, are we not losing the ability to go out, get exercise and explore our environments..?

We live in a world of e-mail and text. It is a world were we tap away constantly at our keyboards, and when finished, we click the mouse, and whoosh and off zooms the message into cyberspace. How long before the common or garden postman suddenly becomes extinct.....? Do you even remember the last time that you sat down and wrote a letter with a pen and paper..? Folded it neatly, stuck it in an envelope and then licked a stamp...?

In our work place, how often do we leave our desks during a working day...? We are riveted to our chairs and swivel around and around like a potters wheel, as all the information and documentation we require is available at the touch of a button.  The internet opens up many doors to knowledge and entertainment. We all own mobile communication devises that are super glued to our ears, which allows us to instantly link up to anyone, anywhere at anytime. If we are not on the phone, then a text will do, thus potentially rendering the art of face to face social chit chat redundant.

As technology evolves, eventually, mankind will grind to a halt. There will be nothing left for us to do, and our lives will be that of a goldfish. We will adopt a similar attention span as we swim around and around in our goldfish bowls, shopping online and looking out on a cyber world. Our needs dwindle, and eventually our goldfish bowls will get gradually smaller and smaller, then we will end up vanishing up our own backsides.

But is this new world technology all for the better, or are the old ways always the best ways. Another question... Is all modern technology really all what it is cracked up to be...?

In theory, or in the writings of Mr Jules Vern, we should be living in a utopia, as we now have the technology and know how to live in a harmonious world. But not, there are cracks appearing in the infrastructure. There are those gremlins that sneak into our electrical devices, with the soul intention of making our lives frustrating.  So what do we do when our mobile phones fail and our computers crash...? We become helpless and paralyzed.  We panic, and have to ring a man called Bobby in a call centre in India, who doesn’t have the faintest idea what you are talking about, as his computer has crashed too.  Game over.....!!

I discover this realisation as I tried to enter the 'Great Manchester Run'. Normally when you enter an event, you would either turn up on the day, pay your entry fee and off you would run. Or, you would fill out a entry form, enclose a stamped addressed envelope and post your entry. But this is all stuff from a science museum. Today you enter races online, and this were the cracks appear.

It maybe me, or maybe those gremlins have infected the website. But the simple task of pressing a few buttons is about to become a nightmare, as I begin the entry process. I go to the page that says it contains the entry form, but not, as I first have to register to the site. After filling out a lengthy form that has no relevance at all, and ask questions like what breakfast cereal I eat...? What my favourite Kyle Minogue single I thought had a catchy tune...? And then, I had to think of 8 digit password, which it rejects 10 times because the computer didn't think it was secure enough.  I then had to await a confirmation email with my login code so that I could proceed to the next stage.

When that eventually arrived fifteen minutes later, I had lost the will to live. Not only that, I had to reboot the computer as Outlook has frozen, frustration began to kick in, as now, I had to go through the whole process again so that I could finally enter the event.  In the time it has taken so far to register and enter, I could of run the race, collected my medal, showered and eaten the Mars bar that was at the bottom of the goodie bag.

The moral of this tale is..... Always remember that your Granny was right, the old ways are usually the best ways. Carry this thought through life, and you won't end up spending your days swimming around like a Goldfish and disappearing up you own backside. (10/1/08)