Just saw this in Wired: “The Last of a Dying Breed.” The caption is, “What is being lost as technology kills off the Renaissance man? Our souls, perhaps?”
The author-commentator Tony Long sings praises of his friend John, who just passed away (RIP).
John was a dabbler, a sort of Renaissance man, if you will. And you just don’t see a whole lot those around anymore, not in this age of narrowly defined interests. He [had driven a cab, was an artist/painter/sculptor/poet, played guitar and piano, scuba dived, swam competitively, travelled a lot, spoke some languages, was married a bunch].
But he never learned how to use a computer. What’s more, he never had any interest in learning. For John, life existed “out there,” not on a screen. He never owned a cell phone, or any phone, for that matter. Didn’t have a TV. Probably never heard of an iPod. But he was one of the most interesting people I’ve ever known.
I think what made John so interesting, beyond the adventures he had and the great stories he loved to tell, was that there was always momentum to his life. He could make a lot out of a little. His days were full and I’ll wager that, after Viagra came along, his nights were pretty busy, too. He personified the active over the passive.
So, Tony Long isn’t anti-technology, and neither was John, if Viagra came into use.
He was a doer, not a watcher. Which is probably the biggest reason John didn’t care about computers. Yes, they’re efficient and good for business, if business is what you care about. But sitting at a computer when you don’t have to is to be cripplingly passive, even if you’re playing the bloodiest, most maniacal shooter game ever. Sorry, podnah, but that doesn’t make you Billy the Kid. You’re just a couch potato with twitchy fingers.
Er, computers have also changed the nature of our social life, our view of the other side of the world as a bit more accessible, and the kind of information we can get in five minutes’ time to help us pursue our hobbies, whether they be scuba diving, model planes or rock climbing. Networked computing makes things like Burning Man and the Skin project much easier, and allows more people to participate. How’s this killing the Renaissance man?
Society hasn’t changed into a buncha couch potatoes, not any more than it already has been (and I’m talking before TVs, too). Those who want to do, do. And perhaps do more now that they have access to a lot more information.
I’m a bit surprised that this is in Wired. They of all people should know better. Computer != first-person-shooter! Not by anyone’s definition, except, it seems, Tony Long’s.
