Opinions Daily

The drive toward complex technical achievement offers a clue to why the U.S. is good at space gadgetry and bad at slum problems. –John Kenneth Galbraith

Arriving with more hype and hoopla than the second coming, Apple introduced the iphone yesterday at its yearly convention. But all accounts, it’s a thing of beauty: a sleek, austere rectangle with features galore…

Listen to music? Check. Watch videos? Check. Browse the web like you do would at home? Check. Wifi and Bluetooth capabilities? Check. Touch pad keys? Check. Ascertain the meaning of life? Apple seems capable of everything else, so who’s to say…

If there is a problem with all this– and I’m not saying there is a problem– is that it’s just another “cool” thing, the latest evolution in our advanced technological world. It solves nothing– doesn’t enrich your minds or let you view the world in a new way. Doesn’t stop wars or end poverty. It’s just a whored up childhood toy, a glorious distraction from everyday life, from life and death…

But, as I alluded to earlier, I’m hardly being judgmental. God knows, I have my own distractions whether it’s drinking myself into a stupor or memorizing Sacramento Rivercats pitching stats. And besides, who’s to say that life shouldn’t be one distraction after another? Who wants to think about their life anyway? Some of you will see an exciting, fulfilling life in the good old, metaphoric mirror. But I suspect many of us will see many disappointment and compromises, twisting roads many of us never imagined we’d take…

So if you are one of those people, I say distract yourself till you can’t distract yourself anymore. Find God. Buy every Apple product around. Pick a favorite sports team or two. Just have some fun. Who knows, maybe you’ll discover that the unexamined life is worth living…

Share This

Write a comment