The Seeker: Tech-knowlogy

My 14-year-old niece recently declared "You know a lot of stuff!". 

This was after I'd told her something I thought might be useful for her to know in life. I don't remember what tidbit of info I'd given her that particular time...

But I'm often trying to remember pertinent things to pass on to my nieces and my nephew to save them time and trouble later on. Because I'm constantly searching and researching! 

As I explained to my niece when she made that revelation, What I know, I've searched for or wanted to discover. I then went on to explain that when her dad and I were kids, there was no internet. The public library and school were our main sources of knowledge (with some television thrown in). Growing up in the eighties and nineties (yes, the nineteen-eighties), we did not have smartphones, smartwatches, tablets, etc.).

Those were tools found only in people's imaginations. I know I'm aging myself, but we were considered privileged to be the only family on the block with a car phone (which my brother and I were not allowed to use!). So now having access to the most obscure piece of information at the tip of my fingers at any time day or night, means I find myself frequently looking things up. There was a time when we could only dream of these capabilities: being able to locate a person, place, thing, or info about same like the character Penny from the eighties tv show Inspector Gadget did on her computer book or watch... wow!

the Inspector Gadget character "Penny" 
who used a computer book and smartwatch
well before they existed in the real world

Today I searched "why plague doctors wore bird-like masks". I wouldn't have known where to start with that in a card catalog when I was a kid. Shoutout to the Dewey Decimal system!

"Brain" was Penny's faithful
companion and helper, often
seen contacting her via her
smartwatch

Now I remember that I was telling my niece about fear. How it can be conquered through knowledge. And that knowledge is now everywhere and more accessible than at any other time in history. I explained that I'm not scared of bees and spiders the way I was as a child because I've had the chance to research and learn about their purpose, what they contribute, and how to avoid personal harm (including the kind from freaking out and falling into something trying to avoid them).

I told her how I've dismissed fears of many things in this world through simple knowledge and better understanding. "If you understand something, you don't really need to fear it so much." In honor of that show from our childhood and the memories I shared with my brother, I changed my watch face to a character in the show. He would absolutely love the reference.

The only [minor] regret I have about all this technology and access is that I'm human and there are only so many hours in the day to take advantage of all the knowledge and good things that can come from absorbing and sharing it.

A little off-topic... This week I missed my Monday post on Patreon and my Tuesday blog post here because I was entrenched in fleshing out new pieces in my studio. And the past day or two I've been a little under the weather. Yesterday my off-brand smart watch alerted me that I haven't been sleeping well. That explained some things, and gave me yet another thing to research. Funny, I sometimes feel I came to this life to seek all the knowledge I can absorb. With this technology, it seems knowledge is seeking ME more and more. And I don't mind that. ♡