Has Technology Ruined Us (Me)? or: Damn Math Part 2

I don’t know if I’m alone on that one. Has technology totally done us in? People can’t even figure out tips anymore unless their cell phone has an option for it. I think about going to the movies. I love going to a theater to watch a new movie. There’s something so exciting and special about it that I’ve felt since I was a kid. You walk into this room in the dark, look for a seat as your shoes squeak off the sticky floor, and wait patiently. There’s the key—patience. The movie plays at its convenience, not yours, meaning you have to actually want to see it, not just put on a movie at any time because you are in front of the TV.

Maybe you’ve got some snacks or popcorn, an enormous soda. The screen goes a bit to the side and people yell, but it gets fixed. The noise of the projector at the back of the room, and the imperfect sound. These minor things that retain the human element, and remind you that you are in fact, simply watching something, but not involved. We used to have trivia to entertain us as we waited, though now it’s commercials, and they keep coming up with more complex food and ways to make you feel like you’re at home. But if ask me, I want to feel like I’m out and doing something. If I’m watching the movie at home, I’ll pause it and go to the bathroom. At the theater, I wait until the end.

But going to the movies isn’t such a simple thing anymore, mainly because of the technology. I imagine in the 1930s, people would pack movie theaters and watch the news reels before the show, talking of FDR and the New Deal, why you should buy government bonds, and how the Germans were preparing for war as the crowds grumbled. Cinemas were packed because it was a special evening out, and you weren’t able to go see a movie at home after leaving. It was a treat.

Now, you don’t even have to leave your house. Who can blame you? Movies cost $10.50, or whatever they are by now. You have to deal with 10 commercials before the previews, which used to be the best part because it gave you a reason to come back. But you don’t have to anymore. Blue Ray and On Demand killed the DVD and rental store which killed the VHS which killed the cinema which killed Vaudeville which killed plays and the opera which had been performed since Ancient Greece. You no longer have to use your imagination because the studio tells you exactly what Outer Space is like. For 2 hours in your living room while watching Apollo 13, you are in Space, or whatever they say it is.

I had Slingbox for a couple of months until the new software update somehow backfired and no longer will allow me access to TV from the United States. Slingbox used to let me watch shows and movies from my lap top in bed, a comfort which has totally taken away the allure of going out for a new show. It’s broken now which is certainly disappointing, but on the other hand, it will get me to look for something else to do again. I read so many books in Ecuador when I had no TV. There’s always something to see in Buenos Aires. And I might just take myself down to the movie theater to see what’s playing.

Above: Photo by thelightgatherer

Has Technology Ruined Us (Me)? or: Damn Math Part 1

In the 10th grade I started getting math tutors when it became obvious that I sucked at equations. I was fine in other areas like English, history, etc. But math just continued to get harder and harder, and I wasn’t improving. Initially, I was pretty good at math, and I even got a 100 on a test in the 2^nd grade (still proud of it). Once we hit division, however, it was a downward spiral. I hated the fact that I had to have classes after classes, and I resisted with all of my power.

Ms. Van Dyke would come for an hour a week at 7 pm, and being a brat, I’d hardly show interest. Once I even heard her tell my mom that she knew I didn’t want the lessons and resented her. The same kind of thing went on throughout high school with two other tutors, though I was trying to at least understand the math as time went on, at least to improve my grades. Even with strict determination, an extra hour a week wasn’t enough to truly help me understand the material, maybe just finish my homework with some assistance.

Then as a senior, my friendly teacher Mrs. Goodman, who did her best to just pass me through, warned me that I should avoid taking math in college. It was pretty clear what she was saying: You suck at math and numbers should have a restraining order against you, do not go within 100 feet of a protractor. One math course my first semester in college and I was done, finished forever. All of the nonsensical equations I had learned throughout my youth floated out of my head, and any time I needed to do some dreaded math, I trusted the calculator or a smarter friend.

That is until recently, when I had to delve back into my arch enemy’s territory for the GRE. It seems so unfair that I should be tested on material I haven’t looked at in 5 years, especially when it will have NOTHING to do with what I want to study a Masters degree in. It’s just not right, and the grades on the prep book tests show that any lingering memories of algebraic basic knowledge have long since left with so many other brain cells that I parted ways with in college. But a friend who used to teach math at Sylvan Learning Centers in the U.S. for a few years offered to help last night.

We spent a little over an hour going through problems and brushing up on basic math skills. Though they were still a bit beyond reach, I could remember having done these things at some point, and as the hour went on it made more sense. But there was still that fog in my brain, the kind you have when thinking of a dream the next morning. It was hard enough to focus with a math tutor in high school after being out of class for a few hours, but this lesson was after a long day at work, well after exhaustion set in.

This time I really wanted to focus, and I strained my brain to understand it. But my eyes went out of focus and started thinking about how I would eventually write about this. (Damn you, literary mind!). Much for the same reason I simply understand the way a sentence should sound, or if a word should be cut, my friend Justin can do complex math problems with ease. He’s got a right brain, I’ve got a left. But there’s no section on the GRE for writing creatively. I guess individual skill, rather than generic, isn't that important to the folks at ETS (administrators of the GRE).

But I wonder what would have happened if I didn’t rely on my calculator. If I actually had to retain some of the math skills learned way back in the day. Would life be simpler or more difficult? Short run—more difficult, long run—simpler, I think. I just don’t have the time to relearn all of these equations or theorems. 

To Be Continued...Right Now

Above: Photo by NintendoChick