Our Digital World
Most of my reading these days I do on my iPad. There are a number of reasons but it all basically boils down to convenience. I like buying a book and having it instantly available, I like how small it is to fit in my bag for travelling, I like having half a dozen books ready to go at any given point, and I like that it never loses my page. I know I am not alone in this preference.
However, I often wonder, if our civilization was wiped out today, what of our literature would be left behind? So often what we know from ancient civilizations that are dug up is from the texts or carvings we find. Scrolls, old books, carvings on walls, all that's left to help us get a glimpse into the intelligence and thinking of a people group. What would be left if say, a massive volcano erupts, covers everything exactly as it is, in 20 feet of ash. What would be uncovered by archaeologists 2000 years from now? What would they think of us?
Thankfully if this happened any reference to the Kardashians and twerking would be permanently erased so we'd never have to suffer that embarrassment before those in the future. However, what would be left in written word? So much of our world is digital, from the letters we write, the news we read, the books written by great minds, if our technology is lost, so is much of our knowledge. While a physical copy of something has more of a chance of surviving a disaster, by no means would all of it. By laws of probability, a book with more copies published would have more chances to continue to exist, so what would be left? What would the future think of us when a significant portion of our literature is lost? How would history remember our civilization?
And don't worry, I see the irony in writing this piece on a digital medium.
The other part of so much of our lives being digital, is what happens when that digital convenience is not available? Setting aside apocalyptic volcano's, there are very real disasters that happen all over the place where power is not readily restored. What would happen in a tornado aftermath if the power was out, there was no cell of phone signal, the roads blocked, and your friend had an emergency medical situation? Would you know what to do? Do you have the physical resources to look up the right response? Or do you know or know where to find the right amount of time to boil water to make it safe to drink?
There is vast knowledge out there in the world, but often we rely too heavily on being able to look up something, as opposed to actually knowing a topic. Yes most of the time a reference of some kind is at hand, but nothing can ever replace true knowledge and the right references at hand.
Now, I'm off to go replenish my Kindle app with a few more books.
However, I often wonder, if our civilization was wiped out today, what of our literature would be left behind? So often what we know from ancient civilizations that are dug up is from the texts or carvings we find. Scrolls, old books, carvings on walls, all that's left to help us get a glimpse into the intelligence and thinking of a people group. What would be left if say, a massive volcano erupts, covers everything exactly as it is, in 20 feet of ash. What would be uncovered by archaeologists 2000 years from now? What would they think of us?
Thankfully if this happened any reference to the Kardashians and twerking would be permanently erased so we'd never have to suffer that embarrassment before those in the future. However, what would be left in written word? So much of our world is digital, from the letters we write, the news we read, the books written by great minds, if our technology is lost, so is much of our knowledge. While a physical copy of something has more of a chance of surviving a disaster, by no means would all of it. By laws of probability, a book with more copies published would have more chances to continue to exist, so what would be left? What would the future think of us when a significant portion of our literature is lost? How would history remember our civilization?
And don't worry, I see the irony in writing this piece on a digital medium.
The other part of so much of our lives being digital, is what happens when that digital convenience is not available? Setting aside apocalyptic volcano's, there are very real disasters that happen all over the place where power is not readily restored. What would happen in a tornado aftermath if the power was out, there was no cell of phone signal, the roads blocked, and your friend had an emergency medical situation? Would you know what to do? Do you have the physical resources to look up the right response? Or do you know or know where to find the right amount of time to boil water to make it safe to drink?
There is vast knowledge out there in the world, but often we rely too heavily on being able to look up something, as opposed to actually knowing a topic. Yes most of the time a reference of some kind is at hand, but nothing can ever replace true knowledge and the right references at hand.
Now, I'm off to go replenish my Kindle app with a few more books.
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