The question posed by Pete Seeger's 1962 ballad, recorded by Peter, Paul, and Mary is akin to Bob Dylan's ballad, 1963, Blowing in the Wind. Both were early indictments of military involvement in Indochina...leading to the Viet Nam war.
I think that sometimes my research finds me feeling at war with technology. And of course, it's not really technology that is the problem, it's our inability to feel we can escape it.
One Illinois State researcher, Brandon McDaniel, featured in my forthcoming film, Cellular Aftershocks, refers to the phenomenon as "technopherence." It occurs when we let our dependency, particularly on the cell phone, get in the way of our key interpersonal relationships. When we are talking with others, and then attempt to simultaneously start texting someone else during the conversation, we are engaging in an actvity labeled "phubbing." It implicitly tells the person with whom we were conversing, that the cell phone is more important. In fact, the phenomenon is leading to marital conflict and poor parenting.
For me, there has to be a time each day when we set aside our technology...actually turn off our cellphones (I know to many that sounds downright blasphemous) and just be. Just be with one other person. Just be with nature. Just be with yourself.
Take a few minutes each day to disconnect. Believe me, the messages will be waiting for you when you turn your phone on again! So will the emails. So will the obligations.
But for me, God put us here on this planet to enjoy it, to engage with others on an intimate level, to stop and smell the flowers. So to point to one last song from an era gone by, read these words to the 1974 hit by singer/songwriter Mac Davis:
Did you ever take a walk through the forest
Stop and dream a while among the trees?
Well you can look up through the leaves right straight to heaven.
You can almost hear the voice of God
In each any every breeze.
You've got to Stop and Smell the Roses
You've got to count your many blessings everyday.
While I'm not snapping photos of flowers with my camera (or my smartphone (GUILTY), I'm making an effort just to enjoy them for what they are: God's creation, nature's candy. Put your phone down for a bit and discover that there is a real world and real people who are just as interesting as the latest cute cat YouTube video, right around you.
