From: hal@finney.org
Date: Fri Feb 01 2002 - 12:24:47 MST
I don't think it matters much whether your cell phone is 1 or 3 years old.
The problem comes more when you are using the same technology for 5,
10, 20, 50 years without change. This is stagnation and it's an easy
trap to fall into.
Consider two 70 year olds. One is on the internet, talks to the grand
kids by email and communicates using chat and message boards with people
who have shared interests. The other listens to old Jack Benny programs
on the radio. Which one would you want to be?
The little decisions we make from day to day, our attitudes towards
technology adoption, put us on the path towards one of these two futures.
It is all too easy to fall into the path of stagnation, relying on the
safe and well-known technologies of the past rather than making the
effort to stretch the mind and keep up with changes.
I'm getting into middle age, as I think a considerable number of people
are here. Mental flexibility doesn't come automatically. You have to
adopt a conscious attitude of rejecting the old and accepting the new in
order to overcome ingrained habits. It will always be easier to keep
what you know. All those years of using a familiar technology drive
deep ruts in your brain, and hopping out of them takes effort.
I find that the way the brain works, it fools you into thinking that old
technologies are better, when in fact they are just more comfortable.
You have to adopt a conscious bias towards new technologies in order
to overcome this mental error. Then you can have a balance between
pointless neophilia and hidebound stagnation.
Hal
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