Sunday, January 22, 2012

Are we The Borg?

On a shopping trip to the Apple Store several months ago, my partner observed a young couple trying to purchase an i-Pad that would attach to their toddler’s stroller. This was a revelation to us; an absurd notion that slowly morphed into an acknowledgement of the new reality.

More recently, I heard about a You Tube clip showing a baby trying to enlarge a picture in a magazine as though it were an i-Pad, and looking around in frustration when the magazine failed to respond. I went looking for the clip and found lots of them; toddlers on diapered bottoms, i-Pads sitting across their chubby little thighs, heads bent over screens like goose neck lamps, scrolling through apps, selecting icons, and changing screens with the efficiency of adults.

Computers arrived in my life when I was in University. The computer lab was in one building and THE printer was in another, and if you had suggested the concept of laptops to us, you’d have been laughed out of the room.

And now here we are two generations later, beginning to live what we dreamed on Star Trek, and kids are computer savvy before they can talk. Imagine the skills they’ll have. Imagine how much further ahead this generation will be in technological expertise because of our single-minded dedication to becoming a technology-based society. It is truly amazing.

So . . . what if we had committed those forty years to becoming a compassion-based society? What would this generation of children be like if they were born into families and communities that encouraged kindness, equipped themselves with all the latest and best implements of generosity available, read magazines about the best way to use those tools and practiced constantly? What if everyone was connected by a world wide web of emotional intelligence and empathy?

If we had committed those same years to love, would proud parents be filling the net with home videos of little ones, still in diapers, expressing their amazing acumen for sensing the needs of others? Maybe the video of the little girl with the magazine would have shown her looking about to see if anyone else wanted the magazine first, or to see if anyone wanted to look at it with her. And maybe we would have seen an expression of joy on her face rather than one of frustration.