Modern Luxuries of Life - Essay Example

Frank Lloyd Wright, a famous U.S. architect in his obituary wrote, “Give me the luxuries of life and I will willingly do without the necessities”. After all, many philosophers would claim that life is supposed to be lived in pleasure and indulgence, the very essence of luxury. Quite ironically, many would also go to great lengths of stress and suffering just to achieve a sense of comfort and lavishness for themselves, and of course for the people they care about. And since we’re in the twenty first century, the subsequent epoch of the Industrial Age and Enlightenment combined, we are the very recipients of the luxury that has been toiled for by our industrial and enlightened forefathers. Machination united with an unprecedented surge of knowledge and we got what we exactly wished for centuries ago- the Internet. Yet as Wright himself would say, given the luxuries of life, we are bound to get lazy and make do without its necessities. A CEO from a large and successful company some time ago visited our college to give a talk on about university life and consequently, getting ready for the life in the corporate world. In short but meaningful story, beyond physical appearances and impressions, he emphasized what their interviewers truly looked for in the applicants of their corporation- a stable foundation of basic knowledge and a firmer grasp of analysis. In his speech he included a brief description of how their interviewers would go about in measuring up an applicant: The interviewer would let the applicant sit in front of him, ask him or her basic information about himself or herself and, as the conversation becomes more relaxing, the interviewer would randomly ask how many cars does he or she think is there in, for example, the city of New York in any given day. Of course, not a basic fact by any means, the applicant would be befuddled. In any way, the interviewer would continue to persuade the applicant to give an answer on the spot, to which at some point the applicant may already seem confounded or annoyed. According to this speaker who was relating this story, nine out of ten would brush of the question with a simple solution in finding the answer to this conundrum: They tell the interviewer that they’ll get back to him as soon as they find the answer on the Internet. Only one out of every ten applicants would find the will to even try to figure out in his head, estimating the population of such a state, taking into consideration the amount of transactions that can happen in such a busy state, and of course, having the guts to tell the interviewer his or her own rough approximation of the number of cars in New York City. Then the speaker asked us who we think will the company hire after all applicants have been interviewed. For sure, the latter would be considered for the job because he not only gave the interviewer the impression of being keen, but he also showed a sense of diligence in his answer. Instead of simply using the internet in finding answers, our CEO speaker was also sure that this person would also do everything he can in finding out answers to problems that possibly can’t be found on the Internet such as internal complications of the company, or human resource management. As a parting word, he told us that a person who is intelligent may or may not succeed, but a person who is hard working is sure to succeed. A person who is too dependent on external things, for instance the internet, has no place in the hierarchy of the corporate ladder. The Internet has, for its primary feature, access to the World Wide Web, or Web for short. Ever wondered why it’s called the Web in the first place? If someone smart would answer that it’s a community based on computer functions, he or she is correct, but only partly. Because of the various channels that lead a person everywhere and nowhere at the same time, one is sure to get caught in the Web of the Internet, and such is the case of my cousin. My uncle’s son, whenever he comes home from school, would take of his shoes and go directly to the computer to play his favorite online game. During peak hours, he would stay in front of the computer hour after hour until dinner time. After some time, my uncle got mad at him and, being the concerned cousin, I asked him why he spends so much time on online games. He told me that he enjoyed these games because he often met up with his friends from school online and they had fun as a group. I inquired further by asking why wouldn’t he rather go with his friends and play some sports, to which he replied that he had more fun in going on in an adventure with them. I finally asked him then why couldn’t he just go out with friends and roam around the neighborhood, finding their own kind of an adventure to which he cuts me off by saying that he’s too lazy to do so. By then I realized I could nothing more to convince him otherwise. But furthermore, I realized that these wild exotic lands of magic and mayhem where my cousin keeps himself preoccupied is but an imaginary place in a digital dimension, hence the internet gets one simultaneously everywhere and nowhere. Though this might be arguable on both sides, the Internet is sure to get anyone hooked which makes a person lazily clicking on nothing and something at the same time. As sure as an Internet site will lead one to another internet site, being too lazy will lead to obesity. According to recent studies, nearly one out of four Americans is obese and reasonable enough, studies point to the increasingly sedentary lifestyle of Americans as its cause. I personally blame my fat best friend’s addiction on downloading and social networking sites for his overweight problem. My best friend in the ninth grade would often spend his nights in college working on papers and assignments with his laptop in his room. He would often sit on the bed, typing away for his requirements in his course, but he would altogether download movies, short clips or watch youtube in another window and check up on his friends online through a myriad of sites. Because of this, he would often boast that he has mastered the art of multi-tasking since high school. As a habit formed, or possibly due to the heavy amount of requisites for his course, he would often eat at his bed while working on some term papers while watching some movies in between along with checking for new posts or updates in his facebook. One is sure to notice his most stressful days, which comes frequently if I might add, because he would fall asleep on the bed sometimes with his laptop still on, a few books and notebooks scattered on his bed and leftover pizza lying beside him. When I ask him why he won’t go out of the room to find some better recreation, he argues that the Internet is right at his fingertips and amusement is just a click away. He calls it optimization. I call it being lazy. Finally, imagine a world where every teen would rather stick with the Internet whether it is for a legitimate reason such as schoolwork, or as a hobby such as playing games, downloading movies, and social networking sites. Though as individuals of the Information Age we might think we’re optimizing or improving ourselves and getting somewhere, but we actually might be getting nowhere at all. And surely, like the CEO pointed out, we would be missing the more important experiences of life which can only be attained by self-retrospection and living life itself. In conclusion, it is living an active life apart from the Internet that we can achieve self-actualization as a human being. Works Cited “Book Browse Favorite Quotes”. Book Browse. November 2008. BookBrowse LLC. 8 October 2009. < http://www.bookbrowse.com/quotes/detail/index.cfm?quote_number=130> Read More