Changes in our culture - Essay Example

It goes without saying that the times are changing. The fast paced way of living in today’s world makes it a cause for concern for so many people. Ithas become apparent that people no longer give value to those things that were previously held more valuable. In order to cope with all that is happening in order not to be left out, we have forgotten to stop and appreciate the sublime in stillness. There creates a void in that all that we do is separated from who we truly are. This is apparent for example that a regular worker behind the desk works for 8 hours a day doing one errand and another which has no direct correlation to his life.

It reminds of a simpler time in history when one has to catch food in order to eat or plant crops to be harvested for sustenance. That time of having the familiarity of building a house with one’s own hands or with the help of neighbors. All of these virtues and values are at a lost in today’s world where we open cans, lids, pouches, or any of other similar make for our so-called nourishment. But this is what our evolution has come to be. This is the era of conveniences and expediency. The availability of all modernity does not impose relentless clutch on all that it offers but it provides for a choice, because ultimately how one lives is according to how he desires to.

I have to admit that I was born in a time where I can no longer imagine having to live without all of the tools that are easily available to me. There is no question that I am thrilled and relieved even that I only have to pop something in the microwave for a couple of minutes in order to satisfy my hunger. There is no hesitancy that my laptop is most cherished and adored of all the tools that great minds have invented. This is especially true because of the internet which has now been declared a basic human right by the United Nations, raising its rank along the same level as food, clothing, shelter and education (as cited by Chipchase, par. 5). Google is a dear old friend who virtually knows everything I need to know when I have to finish an assignment.

Email is especially welcome in how it has made communication such a breeze. Losing my mobile phone feels almost like losing an arm. But in all the exigencies that this state of constant sprint that we are in, the choice remains ours in whether to follow the flow of the current, go against it or simply remain still. In however positive or negative opinion we have of these changes in our culture, we cannot deny the fact that this is actually where our evolution has taken us. When internet connections took time, we devised to make it faster to be able to do more things at less time.

When computers had limited memory, we made it bigger. Tools were made bigger or smaller depending on function and aesthetics that we are now at a time when we can no longer recognize whether things are invented base on necessity or does the invention precede the necessity and we are but eager consumers conditioned by the hype. For lack of knowing any life else than this, I would have to remain using tools of modernity. But this does not preclude me from having to dismiss all notions that they must serve me rather than being a slave for them.

For the simple reason that I would have to surmise the cavemen hold their stones dear, I keep all these gadgets at bay. They are my sharpened tools that keep me afloat. All the same I confess honouring Steve Jobs in the throes of his death for all his innovations that changed the world of computing and what he represented through Apple. It is worth remembering of the ideals of Henry David Thoreau in this contemplation, “Our life is frittered away by detail. Simplify, simplify” (p.63).BibliographyChipchase, Jan.

"Is Internet Access a Human Right? – Global Public Square - CNN.com Blogs." Global Public Square - CNN.com Blogs. 14 July 2011. Web. 06 Oct. 2011. .Thoreau, Henry David. "Walden, Or, Life in the Woods - Henry David Thoreau." Google Books. Forgotten Books, 2008. Web. 06 Oct. 2011. .