Technology and fast-life

Sometimes, crucial life-defining moments just happen and we don’t even know what to do with them. A few days ago I have been nominated among others as one of the 2021 Brilliant Women in Digital Health by an Australian panel and, as one does, I went on Linkedin to share the great news. While stumbling around my profile I noticed the only award I recorded was the local poetry contest I won in 2004. I decided to avoid mentioning the Japanese cosplay trophy I accidentally won three-thousand years ago.  

I was so proud of it. The poetry one, I mean. So much so that my whole Linkedin network had the privilege to look at it, right there, on my profile. Like it’s a thing. A part of me wants to say that mine, back then, was a silly move. A poetry contest is not something to be proud of or to showcase, but that part of me is also absolutely wrong!

You should be proud of your high school exploration of self. That’s what got you here. As for the cosplay one, well, it is still on my bookshelf in Italy, partially because I have put it too high and I can't reach it anymore. 

When I finished school I thought I was ready for the work environment, with my poetry award and the title of my final high school paper translated, just for LinkedIn. I remember I wrote that poem on a light blue notepad with stars on it while listening to Marilyn Manson. That’s all I needed back then! My notepad, a big envelope to send my various A4 copies awaiting selection, and a map to reach the museum for the award celebration and public reading.

Recently, I’ve seen a wannabe-funny video where teens were asked to tackle certain everyday life items that don’t belong to their generation. Among the tasks were the usual ‘how to work out a rotary phone’ and ‘here’s an audio-cassette, what would you do with it?’ which made for a few laughs. They lost me for a second when the kids, who must have been the same age I was when I won the poetry contest, tried to understand how to use a pager.

That’s nonsense, right? Nobody uses a pager anymore! Except in hospitals and I still find it weird how faxes and compactor archives are still in high demand there.

I said that out loud and the boyfriend joined me on the sofa to watch the video just as these kids were given a letter and an envelope and they panicked. They had no idea how to send a letter! They also didn’t know how to use a map, but that is an acquired skill for us mountain people, too.

I got lost during our orienteering challenge in summer camp. I returned to base second to last, it was already dark outside, and the very last one got a sympathy prize. I wonder if that's on their LinkedIn.

That's when the boyfriend started regretting his choice of entertainment as I went on a passionate rampage around kids nowadays who are not able to write or send a letter. It’s just a letter, it’s not rocket science or outdated technology. Posts still exist! People check the mailbox! Letters arrive. It’s not a myth like waiting for the power button to turn amber before safely turning off your personal computer.

How can they not know how to send a letter?

According to the boyfriend, I got mad at it because I am a nerd who likes to think she lives in Hogwarts and writes on parchment with a feather dipped in ink.

The joke's on him! I write on my phone with my Samsung pen.

I know very well that people send and write instant messages and emails all the time to people far away. Nobody has the patience to figure out how many stamps you need, who sells them, where to drop the letter, and how long before it arrives. Also with Spotify, you don’t need a handy pencil to fix a tape, or to fastforward-play-pause until you find the beginning of your favourite song. Everything is there in a click.

I want my network to see my awards? It’s available on LinkedIn with just one click. I don’t need to find an excuse for them to come to my house so I can show them my bedroom and hope they will notice my trophies among all the posters on the wall and carefully arranged books on the shelf.

Is technology the ‘fast-fashion’ of communication?

Is the importance we attribute to whatsapp the same as when we go for a quick shopping spree at H&M? Forgettable and taking up space? Half the items in store are not for me, same as some of those group chats. Let's consider the opposites: slow fashion or snail mail, where you select what to dedicate your time and effort to and how to do it. You carefully make time for it as it’s a whole process, but how excited you are when you receive the goods! For example, receiving birthday wishes on facebook is nice, but if they wrote me a private message I'd know they took some time to think of a nice message that was just for me and could spark conversation or memories. But if I received a birthday card in the mail, even months late, that would make my day and I would probably keep the card on my desk until I found a nice place to store it safely forever. 

Everything is at our fingertips and that’s awesome. But nobody waits anymore, and the reward feels cheap. Not just when it comes to communication, but life experiences in general. Almost as if technology is synonymous with fast-life.

Think, for example, when you asked your parents to go to the music store to buy a CD. Must have been an event! All you could do was read the track titles until you got home and unwrapped the case, carefully lifting the disc and placing it in the CD player. Always blow the base for better sound. Only then, the auditory experience could begin. And the CD would stay in the player for weeks and you would go through the cover every time, learning lyrics and looking at the only pictures you had of the artist. Until the day the CD went back on the shelf for you to see and grab whenever.

None of this Spotify madness, where I don’t even remember what artists I like because I can’t see my CD collection at a glance anymore. A single click is all it takes, and at the end, I can’t even remember if I liked the new songs or not. I was probably on another singer’s Instagram page and got my memories mixed up. Maybe I was adding a virtual prize to my profile before I forget I even received it.



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