Thursday, April 28, 2005
Through the Looking Glass
Fascinated by the reflection of her own world in the looking glass, Alice stepped across the boundary into the unknown and saw things she'd never imagined. When she returned from her adventures, Alice had new perspectives on the familiar world around her.
Our own world of technology blinds us to how the technology actually influences us. We become confined to the familiar and the secure. We see only mirror images of our long-held views instead of looking beyond, as through a window. To simply reflect the accepted is to become myopic, and the looking glass frame may soon define a world too small for comfort.
To step through the looking glass, to see the world in fresh light, should be a goal of everyone. Technologies are extensions of us. They alter how we perceive the world and think about the world. As McLuhan wrote, "We shape our tools and our tools shape us."
Do you have the courage to step through the looking glass? Now's the time. Or, you may get left behind.
Fascinated by the reflection of her own world in the looking glass, Alice stepped across the boundary into the unknown and saw things she'd never imagined. When she returned from her adventures, Alice had new perspectives on the familiar world around her.
Our own world of technology blinds us to how the technology actually influences us. We become confined to the familiar and the secure. We see only mirror images of our long-held views instead of looking beyond, as through a window. To simply reflect the accepted is to become myopic, and the looking glass frame may soon define a world too small for comfort.
To step through the looking glass, to see the world in fresh light, should be a goal of everyone. Technologies are extensions of us. They alter how we perceive the world and think about the world. As McLuhan wrote, "We shape our tools and our tools shape us."
Do you have the courage to step through the looking glass? Now's the time. Or, you may get left behind.
