My son takes recorded sound for granted, he expects books to read to him. Even though the book talks, my grandfather would undoubtedly recognize our domestic scene. The son reading, the dog wanting to go for a walk and the father not sure if he should interrupt the son to take the dog for a walk. Even in the hurricane of mental and social change was live in, there is still a calm central eye that is still and that the storm whirls around.
Some things do not change. For example, consider the sports car. It is a pinnacle of a technological society. It travels on smooth paved roads. Its high-performance engine requires the most carefully refined fuels. The engine itself is computer controlled, the car computer designed. The shape of the vehicle takes into account our best knowledge of aerodynamics. Even the paint is carefully engineered.
Yet what do people do with sports cars? Many young men buy them to impress women. My grandfather and many generations of grandfathers before him would recognize this unchanged center of human behavior and social interaction.
As we plan and invent our futures, these foundational elements are always there, providing landmarks to guide us and a vocabulary for understanding how to do the things we have always done. We all make our choices, whether consciously on unconsciously, based on the best information we have at the time and to the best our ability.
My grandfather’s life, from 1889 to 1974, represents one season of technological and social change.
When my grandfather was young man, he went to New York harbor to see his sister off. She had married a Sicilian, and was headed by ship to start her new life. My grandfather fully expected to never see her again.
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.
My son was entertained; my dog was not. My son was focused intently on a book, unaware that it was also a computer.
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