I grew up in a time when all you needed to know was your name, address (without zip code) and phone number (without an area code). There were only two or three brands of potato chips, black and white televisions with antennas and three networks to choose from. There were two baseball divisions and the winners played in the World Series without wild cards. Our brains had it easy. We survived without having to know everything that was happening in the universe.
Today we have a boatload of usernames, passwords, security codes, PINs, keys, tweets, instagrams, texts, membership rewards, alerts, junk mail, robot calls, spam, computer viruses, ransomware, pop up ads, Alexa spying on us, Smart TVs spying on us, CCTV, Traffic light cameras, people with names that are spelled weird, etc., etc..
My so-called smartphone sent many alerts to me this past week, information it thought my brain needed in order to survive:
Aggressive wild turkeys are terrorizing a NJ community, A prisoner who was declared dead but then revived four minutes later claims he fulfilled his life sentence, a gay penguin couple adopted a second egg after successfully hatching their first chick, a grandmother who claims she keeps hearing gunshots is diagnosed with ‘Exploding Head Syndrome,’ climate change is making sharks right handed, scientists believe programming AI for self preservation will give robots ‘feelings’,
Amelia Earhart was devoured by coconut crabs. Crows now have high cholesterol from eating cheeseburgers. Britney Spears announced that she treated herself to a chocolate milkshake, Girls find guys more attractive if they have hydrated lips. Some people put too much sugar in their coffee. A bride is furious that her sister gave birth on her wedding day. A woman stole a stroller from a store but left her child behind. Beer is gaining popularity as a post exercise recovery drink and a disabled man turned his scooter into a tank.
I feel a lot better knowing I didn’t miss any of this information. Can’t wait to check my phone today!
