BFTP: A long history of technology warnings

“Writing destroys memory and weakens the mind, relieving it of work that makes it strong. Writing is an inhuman thing.”  - Plato (500BC)

From the Slate article Don't Touch That Dial by Vaughn Bell that outlines how humans have always viewed new information technologies with trepidation:

A respected Swiss scientist, Conrad Gessner, might have been the first to raise the alarm about the effects of information overload. In a landmark book, he described how the modern world overwhelmed people with data and that this overabundance was both "confusing and harmful" to the mind. The media now echo his concerns with reports on the unprecedented risks of living in an "always on" digital environment. It's worth noting that Gessner, for his part, never once used e-mail and was completely ignorant about computers. That's not because he was a technophobe but because he died in 1565. His warnings referred to the seemingly unmanageable flood of information unleashed by the printing press.

This was timely for me since I heard a recent speaker warn about our mobile technologies becoming our "outboard brains."

Great article to share with your more technophobic colleagues.

Original post February 28, 2010.

Off to Kota Kinabalu!

 

I am leaving tomorrow morning to participate in the EARCOS conference being held this year in Kota Kinabalu - on the northern coast of Borneo. This is my second time in Malaysia, the first time being a three city tour in the late 1990s doing workshops for the US State Department for pre-service teachers. While I was on Borneo on that trip, I visited Kuching so Kota Kinabalu is a new city for me.

The flight there and back will be long, but I know that once there I will be enchanted with being in a new place. New foods. New smells. New sounds. I have three days before the conference begins and will spend them walking the city, going on a snorkeling "safari", and doing a jungle hike. I am a really GOOD tourist.

And I will enjoy being with my expatriate fellow teachers, librarians, and administrators later in the week. International conferences have a great vibe and I look forward my 4th EARCOS event (2006, 2007, 2012, 2015).

What's an endless flight when there is such excitement at the end. (I always remember how much tougher those who had to make ocean voyages had it than we do, complaining about being cramped up for a few hours!)

Looking forward to seeing some friends from the East Asian region!

The power of a handwritten thank you

While I have never made a secret of the fact that I do NOT miss classroom teaching, preferring to work with adults, it is fun to get back in the classroom now and again.

Last month I read Library Mouse by Daniel Kirk to second grade students at Edward Neill Elementary School. As both a librarian and a writer, I deeply identify with Sam and was happy to share the book with a class of very interested and engaged kids. The cards in the photo above (and more) came in the interschool mail last week.

While the reward of doing these sorts of things is actually in the doing - it's just plain fun - I was pleased to see the handwritten cards as well. Written thank yous are sort of a big deal in my family. (I am not saying you'll never get another gift if one does not send thanks for the previous gift, but I wouldn't take a chance with a couple relatives.) Anyway, my children and now grandchildren seem to be thank you card writers, and I am pleased.

My job is to promote and help people use digital tools. I, personally, would rather send an email or text than a letter or make a phone call. And yet, I also understand the power of seeing a handwritten message, of hearing a human voice, of having a face-to-face conversation.

Call me old fashioned, call me sentimental, but I still like people better than things. And handwritten notes.