Next Question - What does blogging signify ? - a disintegration of the society where people fail to communicate with each other but are able to do it without "putting a face" to things. Some comfort in anonymity eh ? :-) Most probably it is a new form of social interaction which enables people to communicate which would not be possible otherwise. Therefore, a person in Austrailia should be able to get in touch with somebody in Greenland which would not have been possible with such ease a couple of decades ago.
Which brings us to the next important thing - technology. I've heard quite a few comments (in real life and not the blogging world- I am relatively new here), where people complain that technology is ugly. To me that implies that they do not understand technology. Imagine yourself sitting comfortably in a train and complaining about the ugliness of a thermal power station. The fact that you are sitting in a train in itself would not be possible if it were not for the thermal power station. Therefore there is obviously a disconnect here.
People who say such things, do not, in my opinion appreciate the beauty of technology. Technological beauty is an "intellectual" beauty. It may not be pleasing to the eye but underneath the exterior is the power of the human intellect - the ability to tap nature and use it to our benefit. Imagine in a thermal power plant - tons of fuel being converted to gas through combustion and the heat in turn being used to turn air to steam and which in turn turns the turbines producing electricity. Each of the steps in itself is a marvel.
For instance consider combustion of a solid. The materials -a solid and a gas interact in such a way that the atoms in the solid are ripped apart and combine with other atoms to produce gaseous products. The process also results in the production of light. This requires quite a bit of energy as is evident from the heat that is released. For instance can you imagine yourself being able to shred a material into its constituent atoms with your bare hands ?
Consider the other end of power generation, the generation of alternating current. The generation of electricity is in itself a wonder. By the very movement of a conductor through a magnetic field we are able to excite the electrons in a solid so that they can transfer energy through the conductor. Imagine the plethora of devices that run on electricity.
Is it not wonderful that all of this occurs in an ugly power station ?
Which brings us to the next important thing - technology. I've heard quite a few comments (in real life and not the blogging world- I am relatively new here), where people complain that technology is ugly. To me that implies that they do not understand technology. Imagine yourself sitting comfortably in a train and complaining about the ugliness of a thermal power station. The fact that you are sitting in a train in itself would not be possible if it were not for the thermal power station. Therefore there is obviously a disconnect here.
People who say such things, do not, in my opinion appreciate the beauty of technology. Technological beauty is an "intellectual" beauty. It may not be pleasing to the eye but underneath the exterior is the power of the human intellect - the ability to tap nature and use it to our benefit. Imagine in a thermal power plant - tons of fuel being converted to gas through combustion and the heat in turn being used to turn air to steam and which in turn turns the turbines producing electricity. Each of the steps in itself is a marvel.
For instance consider combustion of a solid. The materials -a solid and a gas interact in such a way that the atoms in the solid are ripped apart and combine with other atoms to produce gaseous products. The process also results in the production of light. This requires quite a bit of energy as is evident from the heat that is released. For instance can you imagine yourself being able to shred a material into its constituent atoms with your bare hands ?
Consider the other end of power generation, the generation of alternating current. The generation of electricity is in itself a wonder. By the very movement of a conductor through a magnetic field we are able to excite the electrons in a solid so that they can transfer energy through the conductor. Imagine the plethora of devices that run on electricity.
Is it not wonderful that all of this occurs in an ugly power station ?
posted by NG at
8:49 PM
|
2 comments
