The Technology Monster...

When I was young, the first Star Wars movie was unleashed and the imaginations of children everywhere grew immensely.

At recess, we floated around on imaginary cars complete with sound effects.  Our birthday and Christmas wish lists always included a lightsaber.

Back then it seemed, all we had to do was wait while masterminds hard at work in their basements would bring our dreams to life.

Getting older as I am, I marvel at the power of the internet.  Think about it, a collection of all the knowledge that we, as humans, have collected, all accessible through a teensy weensy phone line not thicker than a braid of our own hair.

I don't wonder what the future will bring because there is enough right now, to wonder about.  I don't contemplate an artificial intelligence because I know that as humans, if we did create one and set it free, it will be the end of our race as we know it.

What I do sorta wonder about, is when exactly our own technology became our enemy, when it started to scare us like the monster in our closets.

There was a debate once upon a time, about tracker chips being implanted in humans.  The benefits seemed to be enormous.

No more kidnapped children, no more wondering about where escaped prisoners were hiding, no more losing the elderly when they became confused and "wandered off".

But something came along and halted that discussion and I wonder why.

People claimed it was an invasion of privacy, they shouted stuff about their freedom being "restricted".  Employers could see if their workers were at the bar during lunch breaks, spouses could see where their loved ones were spending the night.

Liars and bad people could be exposed for what they were and suddenly, no one wanted tracker chips.

I have a teenage son and his girlfriend's mother tracks her iphone.  She's not very happy about it but what can she do?

Be honest about where she goes?

If we were all forced to have tracker chips installed, would we cut them out with knives or would we, deep breath, try to be better people?

Would our own technology cause us to grow up a bit and be honest with each other?

A current question we're starting to ask ourselves is, should our law enforcement officers be required to wear body cameras that record their every action.

And if you're one of those that believes they should, consider this...

We're asking the people we trust to carry guns, to protect us, to catch bad guys (sometimes risking their lives).  The people that we choose to protect our society, the Star Wars "good guys"...

We're asking them to be recorded but not our proven criminals?

I think maybe our fear in technology is misplaced and perhaps it's time to confront the fear in ourselves.