In my childhood, digital meant something very simple. Literally, just a way to show information on a screen. Like a clock.
When I was 17, I recorded an interview with my grandmother about the changes she had witnessed in her life. This was almost 40 years ago. I still have the tape.
She talked about the transition to cars and radio and television and the general promise of wealthier, more comfortable lives.
Then, I was amazed at how she had seen such change. Now, I see how clueless I was about the intensity of change I would witness in my own life.
Now, digital means something much more. It is a technological revolution (similar to the industrial revolution) that is impacting all of us, individuals, religions, cultures, states, religions – the whole planet.
At first, exciting, full of promise, almost miraculous. Happening at a radical speed and scale. Taking us far away from the analog world we and our ancestors have known. Destination (at least somewhat) unknown.
I loved science fiction and fantasy and comics and monsters and aliens and music and movies and role playing games and cartoons and books and video games. All of them sparked my imagination about the future – a mix of awe, dread and maybe foolish hope.
In particular, Blade Runner had a huge impact on me. The scene where Roy saves Rick and then talks about his life as he dies is beautiful and tragic. And deeply meaningful to me.
“I’ve seen things… seen things you little people wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion bright as magnesium… I rode on the back decks of a blinker and watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments… they’ll be gone. Like tears in the rain.”
I learned how to write with pencil and paper and draw and read by holding books. I learned how to fix things that were broken and build things by hand.
These things work because of our humanity. When we hold a book, we aren’t just seeing the words, we are touching the pages, writing on them, folding the corners.
In truth, what I learned involved technology – basically the material fruits of industrialization that enabled things that were once precious – like printed books and paper – to become cheap and widely available.
When I first heard about the internet in the early 90s, I was extremely curious to find out more. My own life was very challenging and complicated and I was looking for ways to connect with something meaningful to me. Something I could learn, a challenge, and way for me improve life for me and my partner. Not that different from my grandmother.
Like our ancestors who built cities, I have helped build and operate technology systems for decades.
Like her, I have witnessed broad and relentless change. We are saturated with signal and can barely recall how things were before we dove in to the deep end. I hope we can learn to understand how to swim (not sink).
And remember that the analog part of who we are matters a great deal. It is grounding and connecting and helps keep us curious and open and hopeful.
Songs I love 