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[Bill Jones <billj AT harborside.com>]

SISU! wrote:

> I'm 45 years old.  
Now wait a minute. I'm used to always being the youngest, but I'll be 47 
soon. THIS CAN'T BE.

I've never used a cell phone. I don't talk on the phone, except at one 
time of day, and occasionally for other reasons. I've also never played 
a video game.

Last year, however, I designed and implemented a complex computer system 
to guide students step-by-step through algebra problems. And the other 
day, I invented the ultimate way of pumping water, and estimated the 
efficiency of the device in my head just a while ago (more to come on that).

So who cares, if you're not up on that mountain bike planning complex 
gear shifting patterns, or memorizing the handbook for your 
"blackberry". We both know that if it mattered at all in real life how 
many zogs you could shoot down in imaginary land, you'd be a Sega master 
in no time.

It gives me strength to think of Plato's allegory of the cave. He 
thought of humanity as people imprisoned behind a sheet lit from the 
other side, upon which only shadows of real life fall, like an 
Indonesian shadow puppet drama. As homesteaders we step from behind the 
veil, and see things as they really are. I wouldn't trade all the 
gadgets in the world for that.

Bill