The Sparrow

What makes our culture so great? Is it the new, cutting edge technology? Is it the medical advancements? Perhaps it is the complex life style that we have become accustomed to? Perhaps it is not that great. Perhaps we are enamored in an illusion that we call our lives. Maybe we have lost touch with what our lives should be truly about. In order to evaluate our civilization, I feel it is necessary to look at several things. We must examine our advances, the benefits and downfalls of our time period, and compare ourselves to past civilizations in order to see how great our culture truly is.

Our society as a whole has become technology dependent. What do we do that is independent? We do not walk from place to place, so we are dependent on others to keep making cars. We do not grow or kill our own food, so we are dependent on farmers and herders to keep doing their jobs. Everything we do is dependent on someone else. Think back to the black out earlier this year. When one element of our dependence failed, it resulted in massive confusion; almost chaos. Virtually everyone was affected by the blackout. Gasoline could not be pumped, cell phones could not be used, traffic lights could not control traffic, water pressure was affected, food spoiled at home, and restaurants could not serve their customers. The expansion of technology has made us more dependent

on things other than ourselves. In general, the developments we have made are remarkable. Our space exploration, our computers, our communication, and our overall knowledge are some of the remarkable enhancements to society. Computers, for instance, have revolutionized our working community. They has changed our lives for better or worse, forever. Through things like email, it is possible to talk to people in foreign countries for far less money than it costs to make a phone call. Even space exploration is remarkable. Such a far and out of reach idea is now being achieved several times a year. Achievements like these have advanced our knowledge and depth of life.

Sure the things I said are worthwhile things to have and use, but do we really need them? People in our culture view our life style as though it is the best it could be. As the years pass, I am sure that the people will say the same thing about their time period; but why? Are we really that great? What would happen if we were forced to go back to a time when we had little technology? What if everything were taken away but the essentials? Until we became adjusted to the new setting, it would be horrible for us. We would find ourselves extremely busy doing extremely basic things. It is wonderful how today we get to do things like use computers, send emails across the nations, and fly clear around the world. However, there are things to consider in