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Convenience thinking Readers of this monthly cerebral treat will hopefully have gained the impression that this page is keen to call a spade a spade, especially in a world where definitions of once simple every day objects, functions and people continue to head towards the increasingly bizarre. So in the interests of political correction, and to avoid the possible misconstruction of the aforementioned ambiguous "spade", might I therefore please stress that I am of course referring to a simple agricultural implement for the purpose of excavating small volumes of soil under manual control. We live in an age when
normally sane people avoid using the phone that's tethered to
the wall that costs miserable penny a minute, for the dubious
privilege of paying anything up to twenty times as much, and
frying their (apparently all too modest) brains at the same
time. Precisely the same sort of people consistently seem to
ignore the news that taking out a simple subscription to any
one of a zillion long distance phone carriers will save them a
fortune compared to regular BT prices.
These same normally sane
people pay huge membership fees to things called health clubs,
and then pay more still to walk on electric tread mills. And
then cycle on machines with TVs attached do that they can
enjoy the sights and sounds of the countryside whilst tethered
in some air-condition gymnasium.
These same normally sane
people wring their hands in angst at the prospect of global
warming, and go the lengths to try and buy cars that seek to
attract their attention with claims of superior energy
efficiency. The notion that they might walk or cycle in a
manner that actually takes them from point A to point B is
deemed simply too inconvenient to suit the requirements of
their modern lifestyles.
Modern times and the
convenience fad seems to have created a generation that is so
easily lead by marketing and spin, that with all the ills of
the world to tackle - ranging from the actions of British
soccer fans abroad to the fact that takes a week to get a GP's
appointment (always in the hope that he is not a serial
murderer, of course), a rather vociferous minority of fanatics
can redirect the attention of the government and thereby the
nation, to erode centuries-old personal liberties
"because they can". The fact that banning fox
hunting will lead to the systematic extermination of the pests
by "any other means" doesn't seem to factor in their
thinking, which is of course not "thinking" in the
old fashioned sense, but the received wisdom of a bunch of
fanatics who have learned how to spin the system.
No wonder most of the rest
of Europe regard the British as mad when we systematically and
routinely place the welfare of foxes and criminals above that
of "normally sane human beings". Given the desire of
many of the same people to promote the unwanted incipient
invasion of the EC into our lives, perhaps they might go to
Spain and try their luck at banning a bull fight, first..?
Alongside the passion for
the PC (both senses) is growing the notion that for an
increasingly large sector of the population, convenience is
based on the proposition that they have easier access money
than time. So now perhaps the ultimate "convenience"
phenomenon is "convenience thinking", for in the
world of the PC (both senses) we allow others to do our
thinking for us. After all, we have allowed Bill Gates and his
tribe to tell us what's good for us, and we have allowed
Tony's spinners to tell us what's good for us. Just look an
see how many people have allowed convenience thinking to rule
their lives.
In this world where money
seems to have gone barmy along with its victims, how can we
(the normally sane writers and readers of Computer Shopper) be
surprised to learn that the FBI have bagged hundred of
internet share-hyping Mafiosi? How else could companies with
no assets, no ideas and no hope command stock valuations of
millions of dollars..?
And we are not surprised to
learn that the mob have been dangling their victims over the
parapets of building and bridges by their ankles [illo
opportunity!] until they promise to post hype - backed by
their reputations - on stock bulletin boards.
But Bill Gates has been
dangling the PC manufacturing industry over the abyss of ruin
for many years now - unless they agree to do business in a way
that suits Microsoft. This fact has been obvious to some of us
for many years past, and those of us who have been trying to
point this out have been learning steadily just how easily
large numbers of "normally sane" folks can be
hypnotized by the right marketing spin - and that time honoured tactic of telling a big
enough lie long enough, the weak-willed who suffer from too
much convenience thinking will believe you.
Maybe the answer is that
all these people listed above are not, in fact, "normally
sane" in the old fashioned sense of the word. Maybe the
rest of world is indeed mad, and only you and I are sane.?
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