This week, I entered into a Pen Pal relationship with one of my friends. It is funny, because right now we are not too far apart (well, I live in East and she lives in Pollack, but still). In our defense, it started while I was in Moldova so I sent her a postcard that reflected a considerable distance. But it may not make too much sense to become Pen Pals while we are still at Penn State. It will mainly be for the summer since we won’t see each other until school begins again. I love getting mail so it will be fun to see postcards about her summer and to send her stories from my own.
Okay, so it isn’t like I won’t talk to her in between each of the letters. This is the Age of Technology so, with Facebook and texting, we will likely be in constant contact regardless of sending postcards. But I think that there is something nostalgic about writing. My family jokes because I like the way that books feel and smell and I rather have a physical book than an electronic one. When thinking about our and future generations, I think that we are losing something important through technology - maybe even more then we are gaining.
So, how does this reflect things that I want to do or continue in my life? Whether it is with this friend or with another, I want to have a continuous correspondence through writing. I usually hate writing but I think that there is something special about looking back and having something physical to laugh about. I have many letters from my Grandparents, everything from birthday cards to “just checking in!” cards and they are fun to look back on.
The question becomes, what have you lost from technology? Do you have something special, like letters or pictures, that future generations might not get the same experiences from because technology has changed society so much? Most importantly, is there anything that we can do about it?
This is a great idea! It's true that we as a society have lost a considerable amount of things due to technology, such as writing and face-to-face communication, amongst others. Although I do believe that some people in future generations will continue to write and possess good communication/speaking skills, I feel that these numbers will be few. My biggest concern is that regarding face-to-face communication, though. I see lots of text message marriage proposals in the future XP
ReplyDeleteThis is such a good point. My parents have so many pictures and scrapbooks they show me from their childhood and adolescence, and I can't help but wonder how I'll share that with my kids. Just show them my Facebook page? I love the smell of books too! Thank god I'm not the only one...the idea of the kindle is disgusting to me. At the pace we're going, I think we'd be hard pressed to be able to stop and realize the nostalgic elements we're losing :/
ReplyDeleteMy dad always says he thinks kids are just gunna stop being capable of communicating because of the way technology is... i love revieving letters and such so I think we need to make an effort to keep it from disappearing
ReplyDeleteI agree totally with you guys. Confession: I own a kindle. Because of my love of reading my parents bought it as a surprise for my birthday, but I have yet to use it because like you guys I love the feel of a book. I love the different page textures, the cover art, the front of the writing, even the creases the binding gets when you've read a book so many times that you have entire passages memorized but still read it just because you love it.
ReplyDeleteAn unfortunate thing I have lost from technology is my future job. I always thought that I would work with books most likely in a publishing house. However, because of technology, the number of opportunities in that industry have greatly reduced.
Gabby,
ReplyDeleteI love your idea of becoming pen pals with your friend, it is adorable. I also agree with you about how books smell, especially old books from the library! There is something about the smell that's so warm and comforting. :) To answer your question, I feel like I have lost developing pictures by hand in the dark room. I love photography and my favorite part is watching the blank photo paper float around in the developer, waiting to see how my picture is going to turn out. The dark room is an art that technology is slowly taking away from us.
Sophia