Life Outside Monitors
(Warning: This entry is controversial. So drop your angst, err, opinion at the comments page)
Some time in the last few
months, I overheard repeated conversations of two engineering students. They
were talking about the latest video codec, the most recent microprocessor, and
the fastest possible speed of their DSL cables.
I don’t know about you, people,
but I find this kind of discussion - especially when repeated nth times - to be
incredibly boring. I mean, sure, it is essential that we understand the basics of
a computer, perhaps even the advance concepts when computer is your field of
study/interest. As an engineer, I can never overstate how important computer is
in aiding us to do certain tasks. And for having been using computers since I
was grade 3, I can say I know a decent amount of computer skills.
Regardless, I think with
great conviction that there is life outside even the biggest LCD monitor. Don’t
let this rub on you the wrong way. I like computer just like the next guy: just
maybe not as much as the two I’ve previously discussed, but for good reasons.
While I certainly acknowledge the importance of computer, most especially in
the information technology age, which is now, I also think that to compromise
other hobbies/interests just for computers is to steeply decline the FUN/LIFE
in your existence, even if you may have the latest graphics adapter, insane
amount of RAM and million Gigabytes of memory to play the latest first person
shooter in your overpowered computing machine.
These two engineering
students will most certainly never waver in terms of keeping tabs with the
current computer technology, and hey, that’s cool. But what’s not cool is that
they don’t seem to have any life outside computers. They don’t appreciate arts,
music, literatures, movies, philosophies, psychologies, sociologies, and
theologies, except of course when they are rendered in 3D and/or involve
something that showcases the trendiest digital photography or some
nanotechnology. As a consequence, none of their discussion falls outside the
technology radar. Heck, they never even speak to each other about beautiful
girls, even when the heartthrob is staring at them. Instead, (their discussion,)
it’s always computers, broadband, wireless LAN, fiber optics, bandwidth, MPEG,
integrated circuit, silicon wafers, windowing, compression, analog-digital,
transmission, protocols, etc. One of them doesn’t even watch movies on cinemas,
and both of them refuse to go to malls with their friends. Don’t even ask me
whether or not they have ever went to KTV, attended club events and community
seminars, watched the trendiest (even though they might be crappy) artists do
their gigs live, and attended any UAAP games in Araneta Coliseum, among others.
They have not. I even remember that time when one of them went abroad in
partial fulfillment of a certain course’s curriculum. Guess what he was
looking? I was told that he was comparing the technology of that country to
ours! Last I checked, the real purpose of travelling is to look at tourist
spots, those that are unobstructed from computers, can’t be seen elsewhere and, no matter how hard one
can try, whose beauty can never be truly imitated by smothering it with a 3d
Render? It would be an overwhelming understatement to label these
people lacking in social life.
What’s sad is that both
these people are smart; they have higher CGPA’s than me, and both of them just
graduated with high distinction. That means they would have great capacity of
thinking, if wisdom were to be equated to one’s IQ, which shouldn’t. It’s also
quite sad because I clearly saw one time that one among these two was actually
carrying with him the Rick Warren’s bestseller “Purpose Driven Life”. Clearly,
even only after reading just one chapter of this book, it would’ve been made
very clear that there is life outside computer. One doesn’t need to be a Ph D
to know that, nor does one need to read bestsellers to grasp the meaning of
life. One of my friends even asked them whether they know of anything unrelated
to technology/gadgets/computers. The answer, as I expected, is no. Shouldn’t
they even be doing something about it?
So once again, I repeat
this. I will continue to have interests in computers and I will keep on using
it until my eyes decide to break on me (which I hope happens after I die). But
I will turn off the CPU, shut down the monitor and go outside just to breath
some real fresh air, not some air-conditioned one, and experience the beauty
the simple things in life have to bring. One that doesn’t include lots of
circuitries and hardware complexities, but simply a few magical moments, chance
encounters, intellectual conversations and unobstructed smiles. Most certainly
these are the things that people talk about during night talks around the
fireplace, which also happens to be the title of the book whose premise is
simply the stories and discussions told in, well, night talks around the
fireplace.
Those stories and
discussions are beautiful, such that they are translated to different
languages. And guess what? None of them are about technologies, science, or
computers.
