Is Email Fading?

[cosmicfolklore]

Maybe people have also stopped having thoughts that are worthy of preserving. Maybe we have never had thoughts worth preserving. When in college, I was befriended by an elederly local ceramicist who's work was up in the thousands of dollar for his unique detail work. People would visit his little studio shack in the woods from everywhere. Reggie Gober. I'd be in there listening to music, and musing over the meaning of art and life and culture, and I remember one time I knocked a platter off of his bench and it shattered, leaving me feeling like I had just knocked over and shattered a sculpture in a museum. My soul cracked and I felt like I was instantly indebted for life. I went into an apologetic fit. And, Reggie just shrugged and said, "if the shit didn't break, fade, burn, or just crumble away, all of mankind's shit would be neck high, and we would have to crawl over it to get from one place to another."
Technology is a part of our evolution. I'm sure that old men in ancient Sumeria used to set around and complain about how the kids no longer learned cuiniform, or the old Roman codgers complained that they just don't make scrolls like they used to.
"Those that don't remember the past are doomed to repeat it," is one of the biggest lies that humanity has used to justify teaching crappy fairy tales in school. A professor I had used an entire semester to go over how history is used to make us all repeat our follies over and over. Remembering just helps those who want us to repeat them over and over. Propaganda.
We are soon passing from this ball of dirt. I just hope that one day they toss away all of the old ideas and just settle on what works best for them for the moment.
I am the optimist. It was crappy back in the day, and it's been getting better and better. (Unless you were the right gender, race, wealth, or of noble birth) And, things will speed up getting even better when humans just learn to be good to each other, despite what stupid ideas our forefathers, or heroes, or fairy tales tell us.
Personally, I am glad that every correspondence is not archival and setting on paper in some big building somewhere. On one hand we have old coots who aren't entrenched in technology looking at younger people WHO ARE in the middle of communicating with people the world over using a technology that makes a statement travel the world in lightspeed. The Old Coots all scratch their heads and complain that the younger generation isn't communicating anymore. Phhhht. If you aren't in the midst of it using it, they definitely aren't talking to you. So, I can see how the Old Coots think that.
You're allowed to think what you want. Just don't get all bent when the rest of us see the situation differently.

 

[georged]

younger people who are ... communicating with people the world over using a technology that makes a statement travel the world in lightspeed.

Which is what will almost certainly be looked back upon by Earth's human survivors as The Thing That Went Wrong.
The civilization-ending invention that seemed so promising at the time.
How's that, you ask? Because human behavior never changes, only the technology and tools that humans use does. Meaning the planet is once again a village, uber-deadly high-tech weapons are its rocks, and cries of "She's a witch!" will evoke the same response it always did.

 

[saltedplug]

I think their are enclaves of those who think to purpose, cooly and analytically, universities, mainly. If they think with discipline they probably write and the weight of this solitary activity spur them to write about that which they've learned, or at least what they've thought and probably to the company of others where such conversation is enjoyed. I find very, very few who wish to live this literacy triad.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Oooohhh, once we're in our dirt, pushing up daisy's, the only thing I want the younger ones to remember is that we are only here for a short while, and to gather them damn rosebuds. They can kill whomever for whatever reason. It won't matter much to me after I am gone. I had my go of it, gathering rosebuds by the fistful. They can let the whole ball burn once I've had mine. But, something tells me that there will be many many more generations of rosebud gatherers once I am gone.

 

[warren]

When the youngsters crowd my "old coot's comfort zone" I tend to crowd back. But, while lamenting the passing of what makes me comfortable, I acknowledge that the world moves forward, with blinding speed, leaving me hobbling along at the back of the pack, cursing my age and envious of their youth and what amazing things are in front of them.
Somewhere behind me are kids who will stamp out cancer, reach the stars, write great music and poetry on some sort of electronic gadget, perhaps with just the mind involved. I am sorry to be missing that while still lamenting the passing of some social conventions which made life good. It is a conundrum, this aging thing, holding to the past while knowing the future is/will be exciting and, perhaps even better.

 

[brian64]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4mQqVqRB7I

 

[tbradsim1]

I love technogly, Siri was first discovered when I accidentally woke her up and startled me , I replied what the F~~K , she replied That's Not Nice. I really was startled but had a good laugh afterwards. :rofl:

 

[thomasw]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdaC90okf7g

 

[carlomarx]

You're talking to a guy, me, who uses a 1960 Smith-Corona Skyriter portable type writer to type letters to his sons. I'd hand write more but my hands won't cooperate so I save that for thank you notes and condolences or something of a personal nature. Many people, including family find it odd or hilarious that I use a typewriter.I find that it forces me to slow down and put more thought into the letter, plus weather permitting I sit outside with a pipe, a tumbler of Irish single malt and enjoy the moment, blissfully free of email, telephones, and pagers.
In the world from which I recently retired email did not boost efficiency. On the contrary, it added to the background noise and instead of helping it became more of a distraction. Instead of actually doing my job I spent at least an hour every morning answering and reading emails. I swear many people learned to use email as a delaying tactic as in " I emailed him but I haven't received a reply yet". The last year or so texting was not replacing email but becoming an additional PITA. That said, both do and will continue to have an important but often misused function in business.

 

[carlomarx]

You're talking to a guy, me, who uses a 1960 Smith-Corona Skyriter portable type writer to type letters to his sons. I'd hand write more but my hands won't cooperate so I save that for thank you notes and condolences or something of a personal nature. Many people, including family find it odd or hilarious that I use a typewriter.I find that it forces me to slow down and put more thought into the letter, plus weather permitting I sit outside with a pipe, a tumbler of Irish single malt and enjoy the moment, blissfully free of email, telephones, and pagers.
In the world from which I recently retired email did not boost efficiency. On the contrary, it added to the background noise and instead of helping it became more of a distraction. Instead of actually doing my job I spent at least an hour every morning answering and reading emails. I swear many people learned to use email as a delaying tactic as in " I emailed him but I haven't received a reply yet". The last year or so texting was not replacing email but becoming an additional PITA. That said, both do and will continue to have an important but often misused function in business.

 

[brightleaf]

I loved the lesson from the ceramic artist. Although I do think there are things worthwhile besides living in the moment. IMO the real lessons that deserve to be preserved are those that help us to learn how to think critically and understand important ideas such as Freedom. I agree that studying history is somewhat of a lie in that we can forget that it is only a story told in the present, and told from a biased perspective with very little data included. I think paper books are important because they are more likely to preserve the truth of the past than digital data, which could theoretically be altered at some point. The loss of a method of communication isn't necessarily troubling to me, for example, the disappearance of shorthand isn't missed. I wonder how our brains are fundamentally altered by our communication method, it may be important to teach reading and writing for reasons beyond simple communication and job demands.

 

[olkofri]

I have to type my epistles, unless my intended recipient can read Sütterlin.

 

[carver]

this was all a very intersting read. I personally don't handwrite much but I'd love to write more. I have a very nice fountain pen I got a while back, it's a Graf von Faber-Castell, cost me an arm, and it's a pity that I don't use it more often. The thing that I noticed is that with the digital communications and printers, the need for high paper quality is not very important. A printer can print on thiner paper without problems, but writing with a fountain pen on them will make stains and suck the ink, the lines will be blurry, etc, and so it makes the whole process much less enjoyable, but as I said, a pity.

 

[warren]

Easy fix, an office store will have the proper paper. There! All fixed. Enjoy your pen!

 

[jvnshr]

Actually never heard of Roxy Music.

That's because it's unique

I enjoyed reading your post jvnshr. It is still early for me here so my brain is only half awake, I got lost in thought contemplating "lovers in the middle ages." Suddenly, I notice 15 minutes has passed.

That's nice to hear

Who is at fault when a child is not taught when a hand written note or letter is the only proper response? Hint: It is not the schools.

IMHO, it is the both. I've studied in a Turkish school, from 9 to 4, 8 classes a day, for 7 years before the college. A school year (academic year) in Turkish schools is called training-education year. And I remember how one of our teachers once explained why training comes before than education in an academic year.

IMO the real lessons that deserve to be preserved are those that help us to learn how to think critically

Brightleaf, that's what all people try to do. From my point of view however, there are 2 types of people. The one who sees the problem (thinks critically, analyzes, etc.) and the one who solves the problem. IMHO, the latter is the most important one and we need more people to solve our problems than seeing them and complaining about them.

It is a conundrum, this aging thing, holding to the past while knowing the future is/will be exciting and, perhaps even better.

It is one of the best quotes I've ever heard, Warren. Made me smile. I just hope that I will have a chance to watch it, even if I am not there.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Listened to quite a bit of Roxy Music today. I like it!

 

[jvnshr]

Listened to quite a bit of Roxy Music today. I like it!

Glad to hear that, Duane. May I also suggest you to watch the movie called Flashbacks of a Fool (2008)?

 

[Chasing Embers]

May I also suggest you to watch the movie called Flashbacks of a Fool (2008)?

It has Daniel Craig and Felicity Jones and the plot sounds intetesting. It's now on my "to watch" list.

 

[brightleaf]

Just in case, I would like to clarify what I meant by "think critically." Critical thinking is the name applied to the thought process after learning about the common mistakes that often trip us up. It is learning our personal bias, prejudice, emotional triggers, ways that we are manipulated and led to believe things that aren't true. It entails learning what other people think and why, it involves understanding how things interact on many different levels and understanding the motivations of those around us. I was not meaning to think like a critic.
Whether you knew what I meant or not your words are still true jvnshr. It doesn't matter what one knows if they don't get off their butt and make a difference. We can all make a difference.
As georged said, what is often found to be repeated in history is the manipulation of the masses into a blood thirsty rage. I would add to that, the emotional and rational control of the majority of people has been fine tuned in our modern age of instant mass communication. The incitement of hatred is the calling card of our News Broadcasters. Without the ability to use our brains we become pawns. The typical result is the spouting of hatred and blame on an enemy created for us, while at the same time we cheer at having our rights diminished. It is this Action without Critical Thinking that causes us so much trouble.

 

[Chasing Embers]

It is this Action without Critical Thinking that causes us so much trouble.

Or TV, the internet, and doctors.