Something To Hang Your Hat On-You Can’t Miss What You Never Had

“You Can’t Miss What You Never Had” 

Recently I heard some folks talking about technology, modern conveniences and social media, etc. They approached the discussion from the POV of, “How did we ever live without these things?” The discussion centered around having a little computer in your pocket, i.e. your phone, and what life was like before.  We didn’t have all our loved ones’ numbers programmed in. We couldn’t see what everyone was up to every second of the day through social media. There was no such thing as ordering food to be dropped at your door without ever leaving your house. And don’t get me started on navigation and maps. I actually like that one. LOL.  

Then, on the flip side, I saw a post showing fictional kids in the 70s and 80s speaking about what life would be like in the future. It was eye opening. The kids posed various scenarios in disbelief. For example, they would ponder, “You mean in the future people will sit down to eat and take a photo of their food before they eat it? And strangers will like and comment about it?” “You mean in the future you don’t actually own music, you just pay every month to borrow it...and if you stop paying it just goes away?” “You mean people just stare at a little box all day?” “In the future everyone has their own phone, and they use it to type messages instead of calling?  And if someone calls you without typing it first, it’s considered rude?” “And you’re telling me in the future people just post their diaries for strangers to read? And some people get paid to do it?” “And in the future a little box tells you where to go turn by turn, and people still get lost?” “In the future no one ever just sits with the quiet...ever? That’s sounds exhausting.” “In the future everyone’s connected to everything, but people are still lonely?” And they called that ‘progress.’  

All these ‘conveniences’ we rely so heavily on today and wonder what we would do without...there was a time in our lives ( if you’re of a certain age) when those things were unheard of. We could never have imagined a world where they existed. And we didn’t miss them. We got along just fine. In fact, in some cases, we thrived. I’m not saying some of these things haven’t made our lives easier. I love my navigation. I enjoy being in contact with my son when he’s traveling for work. I enjoy being able to look facts up online. It makes research easier for our jobs. However, even that is getting more difficult with blurred lines between what’s real or AI. We have to be on our toes to discern fact from fiction these days. And to the point in the post I saw...the more ‘connected’ we are, the lonelier we seem to be. For what we gain, we lose something. Bottom line...if these things had never come into our lives, we wouldn’t have missed them. And you can be certain long after we’re gone, something will exist that we don’t miss, and the next generation will wonder how they could live without it. And that’s Something To Hang Your Hat On.