Is our high tech world messing with our brains?!

I've been contemplating that question for the last few days, because several incidents have highlighted the different ways different generations communicate.

I guess it's something people have been wondering about for a very long time. Socrates got worried when the masses learned how to read and write that they would lose their traditions of passing folklore and history by word of mouth, and thus only gain superficial knowledge and none of the personal inflection and underlying meaning you can pick up thru direct human interaction. He also worried that the mind would become slack, because it wouldn't have to train itself to memorize things when readers could simply refer back to a text on the shelf . . . or a scroll in his days, I suppose.

Much more recently, my parents' generation were the first to be exposed to the "vast wasteland" of television. People were worried then that too much exposure to the boob-tube would lead to detachment and passivity. Ironically, in my own generation, similar worry warts (like Tipper Gore) worried the same sort of exposure to TV, music, and video games would lead to violence and depravity.

Now, all kinds of folks are worried how digital age technologies like the internet and smart phones are affecting this generation of youngsters. Kids today don't pass notes back in forth in the classroom, as my friend Lisa recently pointed out to me. Instead they text each other. Wierd, huh?

Some serious scholars are looking into this. I found an article by a psychiatrist named Gary Small out at UCLA who theorizes that all this texting, emailing, and IMing is robbing us all (but young people in particular) of social skills. For example, he mentioned some teenagers lack the ability to accurately interpret facial expressions during face-to-face conversations.

Another researcher, Maryanne Wolf at Tufts University, is exploring how being wired affects "deep reading." Like Socrates, she believes technology is affecting knowledge retention as minds grow lax and dependant on easy reference to info thru tools like google and yahoo.

I'm a little more optimistic. From the dawn of time, the way we communicate has evolved and changed the way we think. But, the reverse is also the case. By changing the way our minds process and store information, we come up with newer and greater innovations.

So, don't despair! Vive la revolution!

And, just wait a couple decades. Today's whippersnappers will be just as perplexed by the world their kids create as we are now . . . it's just human nature!

Mrs. McGaughey's biology class

My high school classmate Lisa just forwarded this photo that I thought might make ye socks chuckle.

That's yours truly sitting in the front row.

I don't remember the name of the girl sitting next to me (typical, right?!) But, I remember everybody else.

1st row (l to r) me, ?, Blenda Thomas, and Jay House.

2nd row (l to r) Elizabeth Greer, Mrs. McGaughey, Sharla Swinson, Rene McCain, and Lon Hillis.

3rd row (l to r) Tommy Franklin, Angie Morris, Rosie Llanas, Trish Arredondo, Christie King, and Norma Rios.

Quit laughing so hard!! You were a goofy-lookin' teenager once!!

A blast from the past

My high school friend Lisa emailed me this old photo over the weekend.

Don't even ask.

I have no idea what the occasion was for taking the picture in the first place. It's been too many years. I'm also having a difficult time identifying all the hooligans in it, but I'll give it a try.

Yours truly is "hiding out" in the center, behind Tawnya Tipton's big hair. I can't place the girl in red, but squatting next to her is Jamie Douglas. Standing in back (l to r) are Jimmie Oswley, Lon Hillis, Patty Banuelos, Billy Baker, another girl I can't remember, and Trey Whitton.

Yes, it was the 80's. The picture says it all.

Shout Outs to . . .

1. Patty B - best wishes on the big move to Illinois. I expect pictures soon!

2. Lisa T - praying y'all get that house sold soon and that the car problems get resolved.

3. My sister - hope Morgan's staph infection clears-up quickly. Sounds gross.

4. Amigo's - so glad you're in business. But, I don't understand how you can sell enchiladas so cheaply . . .