Technology Paralysis

Monday, June 21, 2010.

Paralysis. Is a word. That helps makes a sentence.

And so allows my never ending silliness to roam about this blog playland of mine.

Assalamualaikum everyone.

Paralysis is in fact a condition.

In medical terms, I think it can be defined as being physically unable to move the body, due to damage to the nervous system, a.k.a. the spinal cord and brain. The extent of the damage reflects the extent of the paralysis. Partial paralysis means the human is unable to move certain parts of his body, while other parts of the body can still be controlled. Meanwhile total paralysis, which, as the word "total" suggests means that the human is 100% physically incapable of controlling his body's motions. Sometimes, if the damage is so bad, even speech is impossible. Thus, he is alive and breathing but, stuck, literally, on a hospital bed.

However today I'm not going to blabber about medical paralysis. Instead, I'm going to let my dear readers enjoy my own version of paralysis; a technological one.

???

Perhaps your question marks are more than that..(laughs)

I thank Allah Taala for the continuous health that he has given me, for alhamdulillah, I have never been in an accident, nor have I ever experienced paralysis. For those who have lost that cherished ability of walking and even running, even speaking..I simply could not imagine your loss. That is why I continue to say "alhamdulillahi rabbil `alamin". Let's all thank Allah Taala.

alhamdulillahi rabbil `alamin.alhamdulillahi rabbil `alamin.alhamdulillahi rabbil `alamin.
Now, on with my ramblings for today.

You know, I might be lucky, still am lucky, that I never needed to go through the pain of paralyzed people. It's not just the physical pain, I think it's more of an emotional one. Can you imagine, being looked down upon, because you're suddenly different?

A while ago..maybe just a couple months earlier, we were running, playing football, surfing big waves..dancing..and then. That accident. And then, this. What is this? Why are my legs limp? "Move you idiot legs!"

Frustration.

Anger.

Tears.

Pain.

Emotional pain.

Thus, I understand perfectly well, that my frustration yesternight ( a new word haha) was n.o.t.h.i.n.g compared to them.

Still, it was frustration. There's no mistaking that feeling. Oh, you just want to throw that piece of gizmo to the floor!

You raise your hand high..and..fuuh!

No, that's not a smashing sound. (fuuh sounds pretty soft, dont you think so? . chuckles)

I exhaled. Inhaled. Exhaled. A few more times.

Allright I'm gonna make it short. (haha)

Thank goodness, Allah stopped me. Because patience does not come from you. It comes from Allah. From Allah's help. (Tidaklah kamu bersabar melainkan dgn pertolongan Allah - kalau tak silap ini ayat al-Quran. wallahualam.)(If I'm not mistaken, this is from the Quran. Allah knows best.)

Yeah, that techie that I rely upon to call, message people, in short; stay connected. That techie almost lost its life yesternight. Allright2, yesterday night. But had I 'ended' its life, my life would 'end' too.

And why not? I practically depend on it to remember the phone numbers of my peers, family, even my OWN (haha), when before, I have a book to jot everything down, which, by the way, is safe, even when the phone is making a problem.

I inserted important dates and plans in the digital calendar.

Important, VI memos are also stored inside it, reminders, etc.

Like I said, my life practically depended on a piece of technology the size of my palm.
So, imagine..come on, just try to imagine, the..uh frustration, when you can't access it?? Yes, my phone didn't break down, sizzle or simply can't be turned on. Yes, it was on, I can see the front screen. But something worst happened.

What could possibly be worse than your phone blacking out?

Aha..haha. THERE IS ANOTHER, much WORSE scenario. Aha..haha. you see, I'm still recovering from the shock. Aha..haha.

The worst thing that can happen to one particular type of handphone..an ironic one.

Touch screen not responding.

Yeah, well, I did say it was one particular type of phone.

Well, now you all know that it was a touch screen hp that almost met its end, and mine. (haha)

What? It IS really frustrating, when you got a message in the middle of the night, and you can't open it no matter how much you touch it.

Ironic isn't it? You can see that cute little envelope icon on the front screen, yet it just won't go away. It's there to annoy you the rest of the night, because you can't open the inbox, and hence you can't make it go away. (hahaha..tension aku dibuatnye)

What's even more annoying is that you can't vent (lepaskan) your frustration on the phone itself, because the touch screen is just too soft. Ugh..if your hp still has the standard keyboard, then please, I'm begging you..don't ever change it. Please..pleaase don't switch to a touch screen handphone. Cause you're gonna end up being half hysterical (like me), because you can't get off your anger, and because nothing changes, no matter how much you touch it. Aha..haha..I'm still not quite over it.. aha..haha.

Well, that is if and when your touch screen decides to ignore your soft and delicate touches..aha..haha.

Phew! Luckily, my parents were around, so I could borrow one of them's hp (I think the grammar is very wrong :) ) to text back my friend, asking about what she messaged to me. And another lucky thing; I just happen to call her that evening earlier, so her number appeared on the 1st line of my call list, which is still accessible somehow. That's why I knew her number, even though I could not access the DIGITAL phonebook. (long sigh..astaghfirullah al azim..to sigh is not a good thing actually)

And that, my friends, was the story, of my technological paralysis.

Every story, however simple, must have its own values, right. So, can anybody tell me, the values/lessons of THIS story? Anyone?

Me me! (Duh..sendiri tanya sendiri jawab..apa daa..)

Friends,
please, please, do not depend 100% on technology. If you have a hard time convincing yourself, just remember my story, k?

No, really, think about it.

I'm not saying technology is b.a.d. On the contrary, it is good.

It has helped doctors save more lives than before.

It has helped man build more sophisticated buildings.

It's helping me connect with you, right now. Without tech, you and I wouldn't be having this conversation right now. (Not technically, but figuratively. whatever that means. :) )

But, can you imagine, how our lives are going to change if one day, technology collapses?

Impossible you say?

My dear friends, a thousand years ago, people never would have thought that the black oil can make men travel across the globe, in cars, ships and planes.

Then came our time. We made that happen. We traveled far to our favourite vacation spots using the impossible thoughts of the generation before us. And today, this very time, our oil supply is running out. What with the oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, drilling for oil will be treaded cautiously after this. In fact, as President Obama stresses, it is because oil sites are running out, that companies took to the sea to look for oil reserves. And look what has happened. There's just too much risks involved when drilling offshore.

So, what will our children depend on? Certainly not the black gold that we did. No, they are going to have to look for other sources to power our vehicles, or perhaps invent other travelling methods. Go back to the old ways, like horse and carriage perhaps?

Friends, we thought it was impossible for oil to run out. But NOW, it is. It IS happening. In the future, people are going to refer to it as "has/had happened". Surely, we're not going to wait until "has happened" happened?

I don't know. Maybe it's just a hunch (perasaan/firasat). But, what if the very power that powers our laptops, our handphones, our homes, RUN OUT?

What if, one day, electricity runs out?

What will we do then? Slowly but surely, power generators will eventually run out of power too. And then what will happen to the technology that we adore and depend on so much?

The technology that regulates road traffic.

The technology that powers life support systems and dialysis machines in hospitals.

The technology that keeps people connected with friends and news around the globe.

The tech that subsequently depend on electricity itself?

Paralysed people, paralysed.

Which is a cover word for "doomed".