blog 4

There was this one section from Henry David Thoreau's Walden that intrigued me.  It was under the section heading Thoreau's Ideas on Modern Technology and Communication.  Thoreau wrote, "Men think that it is essential that the Nation have commerce, and export ice, and talk through a telegraph, and ride thirty miles an hour, without a doubt, whether they do or not; but whether we should live like baboons or like men, is a little uncertain" (Thoreau).  This surprised me because I never would have thought that people during the time around the 1840's would ever feel the way Thoreau did.  It is hard to believe that the people during this era had such a negative view towards technology already.  I remember how we all laughed in class at Thoreau's thought that a man 'riding 30 miles an hour' was somehow ridiculous.  It is kind of funny to think how someone going only 30 miles an hour disturbed Thoreau, but at the same time 30 miles an hour about 170 years ago was considered a fast speed in their eyes.

Thoreau's quote makes me think that if people back then were feeling uncomfortable with the technology they had such as with telegraphs, then we today should feel extremely uncomfortable with the amount and different types of technology that we have today.  Wow, it is almost sickening in a way to begin to think of just how much technology has become so intertwined with our lives and how it is very or shall I say extremely difficult to try to escape from it all.  Our generation is tangled with technology.  This idea kind of goes along with the quote that was on our quiz this past Thursday.  The quote that I am talking about was the one that was from Feed and I think it said something like 'the feed is us' or 'we are the feed'.  That is basically how we are today with technology.  I think it is great the way technology has advanced over the past couple of decades because it has helped so many people in so many different ways.  However, I am talking about when technology has the habit of distracting us from what is really important in our lives.

The fact that we have this extra credit opportunity opportunity makes me take a step back to realize that we really are dependent on the technology that we have today and that it really is truly a "challenge" to try to step away from it.  Honestly, I do not think that I would be able to live for one year in a secluded wood.  It would probably horrify me.  I would not have a problem living without a television, or the internet, or a cell phone, or anything of that nature if I had to, but the biggest "challenge" in that challenge would to be secluded from interacting with other people.  I think we are all so use to being around our friends, family, and peers and even everyday strangers we walk past each and every second that it would be way too bizarre not to talk to or see anyone for one whole year!