David Matheson - SmartOrg, Inc.

In the Eye of the Hurricane of Change - Part 2 - David Matheson

My grandfather’s education probably included some instruction on how to write a good letter, as letters were the main communication mechanism. Now these have been displaced by the telegraph, telephone, and mobile wireless that carries voice and data.  Entire new media, such as television have developed and transformed society in my grandfather’s lifetime.  The TV has become a necessity -- on a trip to rural Mexico, I was astonished to notice that many poor households would buy a TV before a refrigerator!

The history of refrigeration seems like a failure of imagination. Before mechanical refrigeration, things were kept cold by cutting ice out of ponds in the winter, and packing it underground in straw for storage and use during the hot summer. When mechanical refrigeration was first invented, it was used to store and transport ice that was chipped out of ponds.  Then came the central ice plant, where ice was made more-or-less locally and distributed to the icebox in every home.  Finally, the home refrigerator came along, which replaced an entire industry and transformed what we eat.

My children think nothing, indeed do not even notice, that some of their food has come from the Southern Hemisphere, traveling thousands of miles refrigerated to arrive almost fresh. This nearly unimaginable distance to my grandfather has now become routine. 

David Matheson - In the Eye of the Hurricane of Change – Part 1

My son was entertained; my dog was not. My son was focused intently on a book, unaware that it was also a computer.  When he touched a page it would read it to him; when he touched word it would pronounce and define it. He did not realize it was teaching him to read.  The dog looked blankly at the book, in that guard state half between sleep and ready to spring into action should a squirrel run through our living room.

As I approached, the dog looked hopefully at me, raising its ears and starting to wag its tail slightly. “A walk?” it seemed to say. I reached for the leash, and realized that this interaction has been shared by dogs and humans through the generations. My grandfather, born in 1889 would find this familiar.  He might even recognize the book, although only because of the extraordinary technological change experienced by his generation.

He went to school in a one-room school house, six days a week. Younger kids were taught to read by the teacher and the older students as well.  They had Sundays off, of course, but his strict teacher kept the children at their lessons. My grandfather had one field trip in his elementary school career – to the local village to see the horseless carriage.

The school was lit by candlelight, and my grandfather did his studies also by candlelight.  Eventually, electric lights moved from a luxury to a utility.  After generations of light by fire, can you imagine the psychological impact of light separate from heat? Electricity worked its way into every corner of our life, for example reducing the size of motors from gigantic steam-powered machines to power tools to quartz watches. These shifts transformed industry, the household, and lifestyle.

I call the dog, who instantly jumps up and comes running. My son turns off his book and closes it. “I want to hold the leash,” my son says, clipping on a leash made from some leash made of a synthetic material colored a gaudy pink never seen in nature. We think nothing of it as we head off to the park.