BusinessSeptember 13, 2023
Seven people, seven thoughts about the impact of technology
Some folks seem to have a second sight, an ability to look around corners, to imagine what’s coming next. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1955), a controversial French Jesuit priest, scientist and philosopher, may have been one of those visionaries. He made a January 1947 speech in Paris in which he wondered aloud about the possibilities and threats of technology...
Some folks seem to have a second sight, an ability to look around corners, to imagine what’s coming next.
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1955), a controversial French Jesuit priest, scientist and philosopher, may have been one of those visionaries. He made a January 1947 speech in Paris in which he wondered aloud about the possibilities and threats of technology.
A decorated veteran of the French Foreign Legion and quoted by luminaries such as Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis, de Chardin made his remarks 18 months after the United States dropped two atomic bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan — recalled for current moviegoers in the blockbuster film “Oppenheimer.”
His words, coming as they did years before artificial intelligence, the Internet and even television made their advent on the world stage, seem as relevant now as they were 76 years ago.
“We have to face the important problem of whether technology stimulates human consciousness,” de Chardin said.
He also asked two rhetorical questions to listeners still absorbing the realities of a post-World War II world.
“Has man reached the ceiling? What about the future?”
Celebrities have offered notable insights over the years, too.
Steve Jobs, the late founder of Apple said, “Technology is nothing. What’s important is that you have faith in people, that they’re basically good and smart, and if you give them tools, they’ll do wonderful things with them.”
Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., the late author and screenwriter for President John F. Kennedy said, “Science and technology revolutionize our lives, but memory, tradition and myth frame our response.”
Damien Fahey, voice actor, TV’s “Family Guy” said, “My life is now a constant assessment of whether what’s happening in real life is more entertaining than what’s happening on my phone.”
B Magazine asked seven Cape Girardeau residents, ranging in age from their 20s to their 90s, for their thoughts about ever-changing technological advancements and the multivalent impact on their lives.
Harry Rediger, 85, former J.C. Penney store manager and mayor of Cape Girardeau, 2010-2018.
Carol Dawson, 94, retirement community resident.
Danny Essner, 73, retired banker.
Jerry Stone, 80, retired banker.
Stacy Kinder, 52, incumbent mayor of Cape Girardeau.
Mallory Conrad, 31, teacher.
Lacey Reynolds, 26, factory worker.
Harry Rediger, 85
When you were growing up, what was the best, most important technological advance that changed your life?
Rediger: Television
My paternal grandfather’s religious heritage was Mennonite, and Granddad ran a hardware store in the little town of Milford, Nebraska. They had a little country church, and my ancestor was named head of the building committee because of his connections with material suppliers through his hardware business. Grandad worked long and hard to build a new Mennonite church. Just about the same time they completed the church building, television came on the scene.
My grandfather got one of the first television sets in Milford and he decided he was going to start selling them out of the store.
His church frowned on TV and the congregation chose to kick Granddad out of the church.
Undaunted, my grandfather started a brand-new Mennonite church in downtown Milford and the only difference from the established congregation was the country Mennonites couldn’t have TV and the ones who lived in town did.
Over the course of your lifetime, what is the technological change that’s impacted you the most?
Rediger: Data storage
I’d have to say information storage, where we can receive data and access it.
That’s a major change from my childhood and even in the first part of my career with JCPenney Company.
Early on in my career, everything was very hands-on, research of data and a lot of paperwork. All that changed in my 28 years with the company, and now data is in the cloud.
Clouds used to be rain producers and now they’re data storers.
What was the worst technology change?
Rediger: Data overload
There’s just so much data, so much information out there, and so much of it is false. The total “dump” of data has really helped to polarize friends, neighbors, political parties, you name it.
Carol Dawson, 94
When you were growing up, what was the best, most important technological advance that changed your life?
Dawson: Phonographs
I collected 78 rpm vinyl records for our home phonograph and played them all the time, driving my mother crazy. I remember the 78s were big and broke easily. I listened to the Hit Parade on Saturday nights, taking in big band sounds and dance music. That’s what I liked. Being real young on the farm, we also had a radio for music listening. I lived through such hard times in the 1930s and ’40s, I found music pleasant and soothing. Of course, World War II came to us in 1941, and we needed music even more.
Over the course of your lifetime, what is the technological change that’s impacted you the most?
Dawson: Magnification and home computers
No question about it. It’s my digital magnifier machine. Without it, I literally cannot read anything.
I loved the computer when it came around and I find I spent an awful lot of time on it.
It’s entertainment; it’s an encyclopedia; it’s education; it does it all for me now.
What was the worst technology change?
Dawson: Nuclear weaponry
I was a teenager when the first atomic bomb was dropped in Japan. On the one hand, the A-bomb was good in that it ended World War II, but the technology represents an ongoing threat to mankind.
Jerry Stone, 80
When you were growing up, what was the best, most important technological advance that changed your life?
Stone: Landline phones with party lines and voicemail
My mother was of German extraction and many times, when she talked to her sisters, someone else would pick up a handset and start speaking German. With a party line, you could hear other conversations other than the one you were having, I remember this very well. That was the technology I recall growing up. In business, voicemail was a big innovation. You could leave a message without talking to the person you were calling and give instructions, and this seemed like a great thing at first. What happened with voicemail was your problem became somebody else’s problem and the expectation was you wanted the other guy to solve it for you. Voicemail needs some rules, because we’re getting all these problems dumped on us.
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Over the course of your lifetime, what is the technological change that’s impacted you the most?
Stone: Home computers
What computers have done for business, and for general knowledge, is just remarkable. Not having to drive to a fixed point or a library is a major, major change and most welcome.
What was the worst technology change?
Stone: Smartphones
Communicating quickly across the world is good, but the information driven through that phone, whether accurate or not, is not progress and may be more than we really need to know. When I was growing up, we barely knew what happened in Cape Girardeau, let alone St. Louis or London. Now, if there’s a stabbing say, in Florence, Italy, we seem to know all about it. We have this massive amount of information, and do we really need to know about all of it? It’s like trying to drink from a fire hose sometimes. It’s overwhelming at times and can take away from the blessings we have on a daily basis.
Danny Essner, 73
When you were growing up, what was the best, most important technological advance that changed your life?
Essner: Hand-held calculators
I was a pre-engineering student, and we were still using slide rules in school. When the first handheld calculators came out, they were ungodly expensive. One of my co-workers bought one in 1972, and the cost was the equivalent of $1,000 in today’s money.
Over the course of your lifetime, what is the technological change that’s impacted you the most?
Essner: Greater ability to communicate
I remember growing up we used to cruise Broadway in high school and college looking for a party. Don’t have to cruise anymore, because you can communicate so easily and readily by phone. I remember reading the Dick Tracy comics in the newspaper and he had a radio on his wrist where he could talk with anybody. [That] seemed so high tech and only a select few could have it. Now this is a reality for everyone. In the past, so many calls meant a long-distance charge, so consequently, you were very careful in who you called because of the expense. Today you can call someone for free in Europe.
What was the worst technology change?
Essner: Misinformation
On social media, you never know what’s true and not true anymore; it’s hard to confirm things. It’s very difficult to find out. Things get distorted there and information gets shared so quickly now. We’re a long way from the 6 o’clock news with Walter Cronkite when he used to say, “And that’s the way it is.” Well, we don’t know that today. As I read about artificial intelligence, its advantages and disadvantages, it seems AI can be used in a very harmful way.
Stacy Kinder, 52
When you were growing up, what was the best, most important technological advance that changed your life?
Kinder: Color TV/microwave
This is really going to date me, but I do remember when we got our first color set as a little child. It was significant for our family. I also recall getting a home microwave, and all of a sudden, popcorn became an easy deal.
Over the course of your lifetime, what is the technological change that’s impacted you the most?
Kinder: Computers
For me personally, definitely the computer — either laptop or desktop. Hands down.
What was the worst technology change?
Kinder: Smartphones
These phones are some of the best devices, and some of the worst, in my opinion. Capable of so much good, but also a whole lot of bad. And we find ourselves tethered to them.
Mallory Conrad, 31
When you were growing up, what was the best, most important technological advance that changed your life?
Conrad: Internet
Having Internet capability allows us to do so many things and makes things easier and more convenient. Connecting with other people is something very important in my life. Just one example is when we drive, we use the Internet to find where it is we’re going. The Internet has improved all areas of life.
Over the course of your lifetime, what is the technological change that’s impacted you the most?
Conrad: Internet
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, the Internet has had the biggest impact on me. I grew up before we really had it, and I recall having to ask our parents to use dial-up and be limited to a 30-minute time frame. Now that we have free access, I feel like I’m using it for everything. I use it to stream what I want to watch on television. I use it in my work and in my personal life, with my kids, with everything pretty much. The Internet has become the most useful and relevant technology for me.
What was the worst technology change?
Conrad: Distance between people
I think the worst thing technology has brought us, and talking about cellphones now, is disconnecting us from the depth of our brains.
I feel as if we’re constantly being sent information instead of developing it ourselves. We’re not really tapping as deeply into our brains as we did in a former day, because everything is at a surface level — YouTube and streaming platforms, as an example. There’s so much out there that it’s interfering with attention spans, and ultimately, our behaviors. I see this in teaching. If you’re waiting in line at Panera, you’re not talking to the person ahead of you or behind you, you’re on your phone and not engaging with others and disappearing into an online world. You’re not in the moment; you’re not present.
Lacey Reynolds, 26
When you were growing up, what was the best, most important technological advance that changed your life?
Reynolds: Smartphones
When I was in elementary school, and even through college, we didn’t have much and weren’t wealthy at all. No access to the Internet at home. Smartphones have come a long, long way in my life, but there’s a pitfall. Amid the positives such devices give us, we now have the opposite problem of no regulation of technology. We give it so freely to adults and children alike and nobody seems to have healthy boundaries in using them. A smartphone keeps us connected, and in my case, with family in other states. It’s so awesome to see, hear and talk to them.
Now we have the opposite problem of overstimulating adults and kids alike with access to technology without boundary safeguards.
Over the course of your lifetime, what is the technological change that’s impacted you the most?
Reynolds: Search engines
Google, for example, provides a way to get instant access to the right answer. You don’t have to go find a dictionary or an encyclopedia. I use search engines all the time when I cook, asking what the equivalent of a measurement in cups or tablespoons [is]. If I don’t know something or can’t remember something, which happens quite a lot, it’s so convenient to go to Google or to Siri or Alexa and just ask the question. I can recall in elementary school, the library still had a card catalog. But that all went away with computer access. I use Google Maps all the time. MapQuest, GPS and the Waze app, too.
What was the worst technology change?
Reynolds: Social skills diminishing
Social media gives people the cop out not to speak anymore. How many times do you go into a restaurant and every child you see has a tablet or a phone, because our kids were weaned on the latest technological advancement?
In a lot of testing, children aren’t passing social skills today because no one’s talking to others. It’s a huge pitfall because kids aren’t seeing the model of people conversing in public. It’s just gone.
I’ve been to several concerts this year, and I can’t tell you how often I found myself the only person who didn’t have my phone in my hand during the performance. It was in my pocket, but I seem to have been alone in this. Gosh, we’ve lost what it’s like to be alert and present in the moment.
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