pwh@bucc2.UUCP (Pete Hartman) (11/08/89)
ok, I also sent an empty message the first time I tried this. PLEASE I hope >oug catches it.... >Anyways, I see the song "Deeper Understanding" as a conflict between >humanity and technology. "When the people her grow colder/ I turn to my >computer." This is Real Scary because it implies (to me anyways) a few >things: > >- The advent of technology is having adverse effects on humanity. This > is not explicitly stated in the song, but I get the feeling that comp- > uters, etc. could very well be the reason for humanity to grow colder. > My mother summed this up nicely when she said, "All you students going > to technological schools are taught incredible things, but you never > learn to communicate, to feel or to love!" Harsh and a bit stereotypical, > but in some cases very true. My first reaction to this is *phah*. My second reaction is to explain my first: I've known a few recent art students (the antithesis of engineering/ technical students, right?). Perhaps they are good communicators, and perhaps they feel deeply, but LOVE? That's not *fashionable* these days. Hate and gloom and doom are the predominant emotions in the art department around here. Perhaps not typical of the nation as a whole, but you wonder sometimes, what with the stereotypes you get from hollywood (the mother in _Beetlejuice_ for example). And as I recall my engineering background, they always TRIED to put a heavy emphasis on being able to communicate. That's why the project presentations were graded so seriously..... > I highly doubt that >someone who has developed an addiction to her personal conputer to the point >where she "is lonely [and] lost without her little black box" would realize >such. As one who went through the wonderful experience of computer addiction in my early adolescence, I can say that it's not that hard to realize. It comes down to the realization (that I think comes naturally with time) that people really ARE more interesting that a box of electronics. There's only so much interest you can get from absolute power over a chunk of silicon. (oh yeah. sorry about the novercia/novella thing. My recall is a bit spotty anymore. I think it's creeping senility....)