omg

6 thoughts on “omg”

1. Carrie,

   Thanks for the headsup on the book. Understand brain, sensory development are another “hobby” of mine, fascinating stuff – and while we have done much along the way to shift our physical and perceptual realities, there is a lot more coming down the pike due to how we use and don’t use what we’ve prior-to-date assumed we’d be ‘born with’.

   Interesting times we are.

   Hey Lisa, I think it’s useful to consider the developmental changes taking place and the DNA changes that have been and will continue to take place. For example, a lot of kids haven’t developed “normally” in recent generations because caregivers did not talk to them or kept them strapped in babyseats all day and such (as more moms went to work and left newborns with day-care centers. Understanding how all those little neurons develop and connect to make us what we are is fascinating – are we are altering this now not only with junk “food” and meds, but with technology.

2. The NYT is, as usual, way behind the curve on this. iPhones became popular with kids almost immediately after they came out, and many of the most successful apps are the ones for kids.

   The human brain develops in childhood not from passively watching but from doing things. Interacting with an iPhone is probably better than not doing anything at all, but it falls far short of best practices. If you want to see a really cool presentation about how doing things and the brain work together in early childhood, look at the screencast titled “Good At Doing Things” at this website:

   http://www.goodatdoingthings.com/

   There is a standout picture of what the human body would look like if the body parts were proportional to the amount of space they take up in the brain-Huge eyes, lips, and hands and a tiny body.

3. this article pisses me off… a feat easily accomplished these days .. because the press is always feeding us bullshit to keep us lame…

   technology is a great tool in the hands of consciously aware people… but for the most part it is an addictive distraction because we are still learning how to use it to its best advantage —

   I always ask, how can this thing help me become Lisa? Not oh who is the next cheeky bitch, what is she wearing and who is she fucking? and how much money is she getting from screwing somebody over… anything to avoid living my life…

   …so give it to the kid with all the other stupid plastic shit we feed them and then wonder why they spin out of control..

   we gave them teddy bears to love … to project on as an external — a relationship with themself… not as a substitute for our own love..

   I used to love to stay with my grandma. she had drawer full of cloth remnants of various patterns and textures and buttons of different shapes and sizes… we would stitch them together and place them on us like the finest dressed hobos, she would wash all her cans of vegetables and had them empty in a cellar where we would use them to pretend to cook… she had pick-up sticks that tested our patience and dexterity, and she taught us 5 different ways of playing solataire with a deck of Bicycle playing cards, and then we would play pretend fantasy games …we didnt need much but our imagination…it was enough…. finally she fed and bathed us and read poetry to us in bed…

   these are smart kids… way smarter than us… lets treat them with a modicum of respect.. and not hand down our addictions to them..

   Technology is not a babysitter, or pseudo parent — it doesnt relieve people of the responsibility of facing themselves by interacting with their kid …

   sorry for the stupid rant….

4. aword,

   I am reading a book about exactly what you are saying. It is called “Radical Evolution” by Joel Garreau. It speaks of the technological revolutions (gene therapy, nanotechnology etc) that will shape what humans become in the not-so-very-near future and how we might (or might not) handle these. He wrote about several scenarios regarding the future of these “enhanced” human beings. It is an amazing read and this article just serves to reinforce his questions about where humanity is really going with all these technologies.

5. What happens when there are no more books?

   paper burns
   stone crumbles

   but in between the start of written language and the beginning of texting language, there was something tangible about words. structured and organized. in order. with meaning.

   as something we could carry with us and touch viscerally.

   now like so much of what we surround ourselves with, we cannot touch the virtual words.

   they are as remote and reluctant to be real as the stars were to the first of our ancestors.

   The stars, where our stories were first held and passed on from generation to generation.

   What becomes of our eyes, our brains when we cease to use them as we did?

   A friend recently remarked, “will the next generation lack depth perception simply became none exists on a video game screen?”

   Depth Perception. Those words hold more weight when considered than when first uttered.

   iPhone. I am Phone.

   iOne. I for One, know that we can use this time and the technologies we are developing to raise the bar regarding how we communicate and what we communicate.

   What form our eyes and brains will take, we have yet to experience. Will we lose the abilitly to see an eagle soar? Will there be any eagles soaring? Will everything be perceived as though it were a hi-def flat-screen? How much of that statement is already true, we just have no measuring tool with which to identify the trend or trait?

   Our bodies have so very much to contend with in today’s environment, methinks we have only touch the tip of that iceberg. Do we sink? Swim or, perhaps, Fly?

   xo

6. wow. worth reading — esp the parts about what toddlers actually develop through their play, and whether or not staring a a screen provides any equivalent.