"It gives me great pleasure indeed to see the stubborness of the inorrigible nonconformist warmly acclaimed." - Albert Einstein

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I aspire to a stubbornly incorrigible nonconformity. The degree to which I have achieved my aspiration I leave in the capable hands of those whose wisdom and humilty exceed my own.

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Too Late Now

It's too late now. My laptop finally caught up after I had already mastered the task of creating a blog entry from my iPhone. This does bring me to another issue worthy of reflection though.

We live in a society and culture that has come to expect instantaneous results. We are not very good at waiting. I cannot imagine what our ancestors even just fifty years ago would have made of the way that we live today.

Cell phones that play live television or radio; instant communication virtually anywhere in the world and in many notable cases even beyond our world; securely faxing documents in minutes as opposed to the postal mail getting it there within a few days. How could we even explain this to our ancestors. And I think that their first question might have been, "Why?"

When Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone he had a challenging time marketing it. At first no one, not even businesses, could envision a practical use for the device. Bell ended up installing some of his new inventions in public places so that people could experience this device. It was yet another act of genius.

It was only when people got to experience the technology for themselves that they began to realize the implications for the wider society. Gradually Bell's invention has become perhaps one of the greatest inventions of all time and is now so commonplace it is difficult to imagine life without phones and every thing that has proceeded from this technology.

Perhaps, though, it would be good for us to take a few moments a day to appreciate the moment. To be mindful of just this moment without worry or care about what has happened or will happen. Perhaps we would benefit from not expecting instantaneous results, even if just for a few moments a day?

I think that I shall try this today, just not now, because I have to post my newest blog entry.

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