Fear, Foreboding, and Getting a Grip About Technology

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Maybe some folks still have religious scruples about 'defying God' with lightning rods: but I haven't run into any, and I'm certainly not one of them.

My house has a lightning rod, installed by a previous owner. I made sure it's in good working order, since our chimney is one of the taller structures in the neighborhood. Ben Franklin and Prokop Diviš's invention is on most tallish structures in my part of the world.

Lightning rods have apparently joined movable type and the moldboard plow as technology that 'we've always had.'

Even the Internet seems to be gaining grudging acceptance: although I regularly encounter folks who don't seem at all comfortable about social media: and express their grave misgivings in online posts.

My guess is that every generation has included a few with profound misgivings about newfangled technology: or change of any sort, and that's almost another topic.

I grew up in a world of AM radio and dial telephones. Some folks my age never had reasons for learning how to use computers, the Internet, or anything else invented after about 1970. I kept learning new skills, thanks partly to what might charitably be called an eclectic assortment of jobs.

My hat's off to anyone who held down the same job for decades, and still mows grass with a reel mower..

I'm a tad less appreciative of folks who apparently feel that using new tech isn't ethical.

I often share their concerns about Internet fraud, hate-drenched online screed, or vapid 'discussions.' But I've got a good memory, and remember the 'good old days.' We had jerks, fools, some sensible folks, and a few wise ones, then: just as we do today.

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