What Can't You Live Without?

A couple of months ago I happened to read an article posted in one of the daily news Emails I receive from Scientific American Magazine. The gist of the article was a listing of replies to the author’s question, what technology is so essential that you cannot live without it? Unfortunately, I long since deleted the above-mentioned Email, so I’m unable to offer it up as a reference, but it stuck with me, and I felt compelled to write about it myself.

To my surprise (as well as the Email’s author), many people replied that they could not live without their iPhones , iPads, or Facebook. At first I didn’t know what to make of that, and then I must admit that I became really furious. My reaction to all this was, “Give me a break—you can’t live without your freaking iPhone?” Now I know that many people are addicted to their smart phones and can’t be parted from them for more than 30 seconds without going into withdrawal; however, smart phones are not essential for existence. Personally, I believe that we’d all be better off if every single one of them was instantly vaporized. And Facebook? Please, NOBODY NEEDS Facebook in order to live.

One thing that brought home the utter ridiculousness of the above was the power outage we suffered during the recent ice storm. Do you want to know what I cannot live without? ELECTRICITY! During the four days Sam and I were without power, it was 40-some degrees inside our house.We had no heat and no hot water—oh, we did light a fire in the fireplace a couple of times, but we did not try roasting any weenies or making S’mores. We also could boil water and cook on the propane burner attached to our gas barbecue outside on the patio, but it was a bit cold to stand outside for extended periods of time. For light we had two kerosene lamps and a couple of high intensity flashlights—woo hoo! I felt like I was living in a nightmare, and thank God we work at a hospital, because we were able to shower and buy hot meals there when we were scheduled to work.

Another thing I cannot live without is PAPER. Imagine what our society would be like if we had none. There would be no books, no letters, no bills, no business cards, no statements, no posters, no paper towels, no toilet paper, no cardboard etc. Life would grind to a screeching halt without paper. We use it in every aspect of our lives and in a million different ways, and we aren’t even aware of most of them. The digital revolution has not reduced the need for paper any more than the computer revolution did. Yes, we can buy books and magazines on DVD or download them to our e-Readers, but the majority of people still want good old paper books, magazines, and newspapers that they can hold in their own two hands—books that actually belong to them, not licenses they cannot pass along or sell to someone else. And have you noticed that many of the digital books and magazines cost just as much as the paper ones? Hmm, somebody’s making a bundle off that.

What about BALLPOINT PENS? Yes, I know I could go more basic here, back to pencils, but I haven’t used a pencil in years—have you? When I write, it’s either with a pen or composing at the computer, and a computer or phone isn’t really useful for writing much of what we use pens for: writing notes to ourselves or others, signing checks or legal documents, writing personal letters or thank you notes (yes a few of us still write them). Many authors categorically state that they cannot enter into the creative process and write, unless they can physically put pen to paper, and many of these same folks completely freeze up if called upon to compose at the computer. Like anything else, it’s a learned skill.

And, global warming aside, who would want to live without the INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE? Can you imagine what it would be like if we all had to walk or ride horses everywhere? Street sanitation would take on an entirely different complexion, considering that there would be literally tons of horse manure that would need to be moved and disposed of every day. I don’t even want to think about it, and I own horses! Instead of the 10 minutes it takes me to get to work now, it would take me an hour to walk the same 3.5 miles. At least I wouldn’t have to worry about parking. Taking the horse would be faster, except I’d have to spend time tacking up to ride or take a buggy, and when I arrived I’d need a stable to care for my horse and/or buggy while I was at work or visiting the doctor’s office. Looking at things that way makes it obvious that we as a society can’t realistically return to the horse and buggy days, though walking more often would be good for most of us.

I’m certain I could think of a few more items indispensable to my existence, if I put my mind to it (my laptop?), but I think I’ve made my point. Yes, I own a smart phone. I have a Facebook account. I do not have an iPad or eReader. Living without these things might prove inconvenient, but I think most people would survive.