Lost Arts
I think we can all agree that technology moves forward at such a remarkable pace that people respond in one of two ways: either they embrace (some or all) new technological developments, or they experience increasing resistance to learning the technology. The first group implicitly accepts the rationale behind each new edition, version, model, etc., agreeing that the latest x increases the speed/availability with which they can accomplish tasks and eases the stress of accomplishing those tasks. The second group, on the other hand, doesn’t believe that y’s benefits outweigh the drawbacks.
What appears to be absent in this culture is a consideration of what is given up with the advancements of technology. I associate the boom of technology, directly or indirectly, with the disappearance of many “arts”: conversation, letter writing, baking, canning, woodworking, gardening, hunting, fishing, horsemanship, tailoring, quilting, and clothes-making. My grandmother was an expert seamstress. She made beautiful clothes, dresses, stuffed animals, and quilts for her 11 children and countless grandchildren. Her children, my mother and her sisters, acquired some of her skill, making quilts for gifts and some baby clothes and blankets. My sisters and I may stitch together basic patchwork blocks, and Laura (my youngest sister) took up knitting at Christmas, but the art of sewing, in my family, will largely die with my grandmother’s generation. As much as some people resist or are intimidated by new technology, I wish we were also resisting losing these kinds of arts.