It's the second time that I begin the New Year thousands of miles away from my family, friends and Iran. Last Nowruz, I was in a lecture at the moment of New Year inception. There's this old saying: whatever you do at that moment, you'll be doing that for the rest of the year.
This year, I was not in a class at that moment (I'll still have 2 classes on Nowruz). So, I chose to begin my New Year watching Imam Reza's shrine here (best viewed on Internet Explorer). I would had preferred to be there in person. But still, virtual presence is better than nothing. And as I used to sit with my parents for Nowruz all my life in Iran, I called them at that moment. Again, virtual presence.
And again, this reminds me of technophobic people who lament the incursion of technology on good old traditions and communal celebrations. If people are already detached from their roots or if their connections to their origins are so loose, why blame technology? Such people have identity problems and to them, technology is just an ersatz (among others) to feel the void.
As a hard-core engineer, I firmly believe that technology is our servant not the other way around. When people let the technology master them, or worse, let it define their identity and lifestyle, they are to be blamed. They are so weak and devoid that they could be rushed away by anything, not just technology. And then, failing to acknowledge the real culprit, themselves, they point their fingers at us engineers.
As an electrical engineer who has dealt with cutting edge technology over his career, it makes me sick when I see people who feel worthy (or unworthy) by the technical gadget they think they own. But actually, who owns whom? Isn't the property that possesses the owner? And when servants take control of their master, does it really matter what is the degree of technology involved? And when things determine the identity and worthiness of persons, is it really a new phenomenon, occurring just in our modern time? Or has it been an issue all over the history of human being?
At the forefront of technophobic assaults is the Internet (and computers in general). Digital technology is blamed for all sort of personality, social and psychological problems. It disconnects, alienates and disenchants people from their roots. Maybe, maybe not. It all depends on whether you ever have roots and how strongly you are connected to them.
I've spent over 20 years with all sort of computers and computer systems, personally and professionally. Still, I regard computers (or anything high-tech) as my servant. When I joined Orkut, apart from being a tool in my sociological research on social networking, it served to reconnect me with my old friends. Searching Orkut, I could find my best friend at Iran-Swiss school and we met each other after 24 years. I could get updates on class-mates at Alavi High School and my buddies from college.
As an Iranian student bounded by a single-entry visa, I'm cast away from my family, friends and places that I love. Over religious occasions, I used to visit religious places (most notably Imam Reza). Every year, I spent Nowruz with my family (even after they migrated to Mashhad). Now, this single-entry visa has deprived me of all that (and BTW, such limitations on free human movements are set by people who belong to Paleozoic era, if they can ever recognize that). Yet, my roots and traditions are so important to me that modern digital technology serves to maintain my connections to where I belong not to supplant them.
Anyway, having begun my New Year with Imam Reza (although by way of digital pulses of the cyberworld), I ask God to keep me in His straight path over my long journey in my academic endeavor. Especially, now that Nowruz 1387 is blessed by the birth anniversary of our Prophet.
This year, I was not in a class at that moment (I'll still have 2 classes on Nowruz). So, I chose to begin my New Year watching Imam Reza's shrine here (best viewed on Internet Explorer). I would had preferred to be there in person. But still, virtual presence is better than nothing. And as I used to sit with my parents for Nowruz all my life in Iran, I called them at that moment. Again, virtual presence.
And again, this reminds me of technophobic people who lament the incursion of technology on good old traditions and communal celebrations. If people are already detached from their roots or if their connections to their origins are so loose, why blame technology? Such people have identity problems and to them, technology is just an ersatz (among others) to feel the void.
As a hard-core engineer, I firmly believe that technology is our servant not the other way around. When people let the technology master them, or worse, let it define their identity and lifestyle, they are to be blamed. They are so weak and devoid that they could be rushed away by anything, not just technology. And then, failing to acknowledge the real culprit, themselves, they point their fingers at us engineers.
As an electrical engineer who has dealt with cutting edge technology over his career, it makes me sick when I see people who feel worthy (or unworthy) by the technical gadget they think they own. But actually, who owns whom? Isn't the property that possesses the owner? And when servants take control of their master, does it really matter what is the degree of technology involved? And when things determine the identity and worthiness of persons, is it really a new phenomenon, occurring just in our modern time? Or has it been an issue all over the history of human being?
At the forefront of technophobic assaults is the Internet (and computers in general). Digital technology is blamed for all sort of personality, social and psychological problems. It disconnects, alienates and disenchants people from their roots. Maybe, maybe not. It all depends on whether you ever have roots and how strongly you are connected to them.
I've spent over 20 years with all sort of computers and computer systems, personally and professionally. Still, I regard computers (or anything high-tech) as my servant. When I joined Orkut, apart from being a tool in my sociological research on social networking, it served to reconnect me with my old friends. Searching Orkut, I could find my best friend at Iran-Swiss school and we met each other after 24 years. I could get updates on class-mates at Alavi High School and my buddies from college.
As an Iranian student bounded by a single-entry visa, I'm cast away from my family, friends and places that I love. Over religious occasions, I used to visit religious places (most notably Imam Reza). Every year, I spent Nowruz with my family (even after they migrated to Mashhad). Now, this single-entry visa has deprived me of all that (and BTW, such limitations on free human movements are set by people who belong to Paleozoic era, if they can ever recognize that). Yet, my roots and traditions are so important to me that modern digital technology serves to maintain my connections to where I belong not to supplant them.
Anyway, having begun my New Year with Imam Reza (although by way of digital pulses of the cyberworld), I ask God to keep me in His straight path over my long journey in my academic endeavor. Especially, now that Nowruz 1387 is blessed by the birth anniversary of our Prophet.
No comments:
Post a Comment