high tech

 Is it the fate of mankind to become dependent upon technology? In our quest to make everything faster, easier, and safer that seems like the path we are taking. Today there is much talk about self-driving vehicles. Tesla is leading the pack on that, but it isn't without issues. The technology surely is in its' infancy. How many years before that is the normal thing? Will a license be required to operate that? Oh, I'm certain there will some license fee or tax to be paid. Will you have to prove your ability to drive that vehicle without the self driving technology? Will those vehicles even be able to be driven in manual mode? Perhaps that will be considered too risky for the common person and be restricted to closed courses with professional drivers only. Given the push for electric vehicles equipped with computers and jammed with technology and the ability to remotely control them, on a mass scale, it doesn't seem unlikely. Pay a fee to enter the centrally controlled express highways and enter your destination. Control of the vehicle is then assumed by the central processor. The speed and distance traveled will be calculated from that point on. 

 Cars have been with us in general use for about 108 years. I use that date because in 1915 it was estimated there was two million vehicles on the roads in America. Yes, mostly due to Henry Ford. A hundred years ago the vast majority of the population could ride a horse and hitch a team to a wagon. How many would you estimate have that skill set today? It's considered a leisure sport these days, something to do for amusement. Hey, even the cowboys have taken to using four wheelers and such more often than horseback. How many people today would know how to use a coal stove for cooking, or an open pit. But we aren't concerned with that, we have technology to replace those skills. Just push the control panel on the microwave or air-fryer. Better still grab your cell phone and order door dash! 

 There is a committee in congress right now investigating the use of tic-tok and other social media sites. All are subject to surveillance and pose a security risk to the public in general. The risk being corporations and criminals have access to literally billions of personal devices. Since 1891 the formula for Coca-Cola has remained a closely guarded secret. Do you believe that would be possible to accomplish today? Today the evening news reports on the nation's weapons, manpower and battle strategy and plans. Just yesterday the news people were telling us that we (the United States) do not have sufficient ships or missile to defend ourselves from the Chinese. Our technology can tell us about the threats but can't do much about it. 

 Our technology without electrical power is pretty much useless! In the past we were limited somewhat by the use of horses and mules. We could only travel so far, so fast. As a result, information traveled at that speed as well. Then we developed the telegraph! That changed everything almost overnight. Yes, it required electrical energy and wire, but information could be shared within minutes. Of course, all you had to do was cut the wire to stop the flow of information, at least temporarily. The telegraph put an end to the pony express and reduced the need for the mail service to be quickly delivered. You can see what we have today. The last telegraph message was sent by Western Union in January of 2006. How many telegraph operators are left? Well, that happened just 15years ago, so I expect some are still with us but in a hundred years. 

 What is electrical energy? Science tells us it is created by the interaction of electrons in the atom. It is potential energy and may be converted to other forms. Thing is you can't create energy you can only transform its' state. Every living organism on this planet requires electrical energy to survive. The challenge facing man is the acquisition of this energy. Electrical energy cannot be stored in large quantities. That is one of the major obstacles facing man's use of electricity. We are attempting to harness that power from the sun. We aren't very good at that just yet. Perhaps one day we will be. Then when we have achieved dependence upon the sun for our electrical energy, we will have achieved what? Total dependence upon technology is the only logical answer. That's because we are going to be totally dependent upon electrical energy to power the technology for our survival. Then by whatever force you wish to call it, all that will be necessary to cripple the world will be to pull the plug! 

 Electricity is a force that can neither be created nor destroyed by man. That is a simple scientific truth. We may feel we understand the process of how electrons interact to create this force, but we can't create the electrons. All we can do is manipulate them. It is a mysterious electrical force that creates life in a human being, the proverbial spark of life. The Bible says that Jesus said, I am the light. Is it an electric light? I'd say it is and the plug can be pulled at any second. Maybe we are battery powered and that's why we can't know when we will die. Which battery where you given? I'm hoping mine is an energizer! It is like I said though, without electricity our technology is useless. I'm thinking we should pay more attention to that fact and plan accordingly. Maybe learn some low-tech skills instead of relying on technology to solve all our problems.