Here’s a favorite excerpt from Breakfast of Champions to keep you warmed up for the marathon.
“Earthlings went on being friendly, when they should have been thinking instead. And even when they built computers to do some thinking for them, they designed them not so much for wisdom as for friendliness. They were doomed.”
When I read this, it seemed like Vonnegut had reached into my mind and put into words my dislike for the way some people use technology. For too many people in this country, technology is not about “wisdom” (clearer thinking, pursuit of knowledge, real communication), but rather about friendliness. Friendliness is superficial. It is smiles and waves and small talk. Nice? Sure. Ultimately worth the cost of the supporting technology? Not even close. And if you start to think of what we could accomplish as a species if we spent less time texting and more time actually communicating, it’s downright depressing.