Posted On: Monday - April 3rd 2017 5:57PM MST
In Topics: Curmudgeonry Artificial Stupidity
We've got digital electronics out the ying-yang, or wazoo, if I may, we're all connected (often more than we'd like to be) to each other through communications miracles, and with computer memory, processing power, and sensors as cheap as we really need, anything logic-wise that we can think of doing, we CAN do. (See this previous post regarding automatic windshield wipers for an example.)
Does that make life better in all ways? I've run into things lately that make me feel I may as well be back in the 1920's as far as advancement in quality of life. There were some things that were much better in the 1920's, but we all know that some major things, such as the ability to survive an infectious disease, heart disease and cancer are way better now. The amount of manual labor drudgery is way less now. In the case of this post, the reason I brought up the 1920's was to relate that the advancements in communication actually have brought me back to a state last seen probably about 100 years ago, maybe 80 in some places in this country.
I posted about the difficulty of talking to a human being to get information with respect to my experience conducting a transaction with Chuck E. Cheese a coupla months back. How about a simple call to the kid's doctor's office to make sure about an appointment? This place is very close to home, and that's why we picked it. The waiting room is full of a lot of non-paying customers, I can tell, and the people behind the desk
Now, as a curmudgeon, there'd probably be things I would appreciate more if I'd just give up the old ways and not try to make a phone call, you may say. They may have a chat thing on their web-site (though I didn't even find any web site), and maybe they could text you. I'm not gonna get in a back-and-forth, 1 message/minute exasperating deal with people. Just answer the damn phone, you worthless slobs behind the counter!
These are the times when it is probably me, not just them, and I should get modern and not try to reach people on the telephone. I just don't feel like it. We go to a different pediatrician now, about 2 miles farther away, where they answer the phone after you mash 1 for sick or 2 for well, visits. It's a real pleasure.
Comments: