Change – What does it mean?
There has been a great emphasis on change coming from all fronts lately. The most prominent emphasis coming from the current political candidates, with each promoting change in the way things are done in Washington. Whichever candidate wins the election will result in changes in Washington. Some people will lose their jobs while others will gain new jobs. Attitudes will change and the decision making process will change. This is inevitable.
This got me thinking about other changes, especially changes as they relate to the retired or nearly retired population. It also got me to thinking about some interesting things about society in general.
Of course one of the biggest changes the newly retired individual faces is the different daily routine from being accountable to an employer or business. The retiree needs to find the appropriate rhythm for his or her lifestyle, that rhythm that continues to help give their life meaning. Some retirees may discover that they will need to experiment to find the retirement lifestyle they are comfortable with while others have it all planned out.
Most of us have seen the missives passed around by email over the years comparing life today to that of 25 or 50 years ago. We become amazed at the change that has taken place just within our lifetime and wonder what more could there be for our children or grandchildren?
Some of us can remember the first television sets and how they grew from table top sets to consoles with built in AM/FM radio receivers and turntables that played records (even 78 rpm’s). The fact that this new gadget commenced to utilize our time didn’t matter. We then began to desire television that could travel with us and thus the portable battery operated television came on the market. Now we didn’t have to miss our favorite shows. Then we wanted color and we got color. Change. Was it good? Only you can decide for yourself.
I was doing some reading this past week on another change that has taken place over many years. This change has to do with how earlier societies are able to communicate with later societies.
Prehistoric (before written history) societies communicated with petroglyphs. These were stone etchings or carvings that were used as an early form of communication to those that would follow. Some petroglyph images probably had deep cultural and religious significance for the societies that created them; in many cases this significance remains for their descendants. Some researchers have noticed the resemblance of different styles of petroglyphs across different continents; while it is expected that all people would be inspired by their surroundings, it is harder to explain the common styles.
From petroglyphs society moved on to pictograms and ideograms with pictograms being drawn images of objects similar to photographs today and ideograms being drawn images representing ideas or concepts. Ideograms are still in use today especially on highway and street signs. Ever notice the drawing of an airplane on a sign pointing to the exit for an airport? That is an ideogram.
From there society moved on to actual writing. While it took a few years to progress to where we are today, putting together words in a sequence and format that matches our particular language has allowed for us to accumulate a wealth of information, much of which has been transferred to a physical medium such as paper and bound in books for future generations and societies to enjoy. Will they last as long as the petroglyphs? I’m not so sure, but then even some of them are lost. One thing about both the prehistoric petroglyphs and modern historic writings is that once they were published there was no changing them.
How about today in our digital world? What are we leaving for future societies? What will they discover about us? Will they be able to decipher our digital writings of today and if they do can we ensure that they won’t be changed to suit the needs of that future society? How often do we see articles forwarded to us by those we trust with the note “checked out by Snopes.com”? If we have a tough time discovering what is true, how will future societies know what is true?
As retirees we share common life experiences with others in our generation. While we may not directly impact future societies individually, we will have an impact collectively. Where we will have a direct impact is in leaving our legacy to the generation following us and possibly to 3 or 4 other generations.
How will we do that?
What will we pass on to our children and our grandchildren that will give them an indication of what was important to us? Did you save your journals on 5 1/4″ floppy discs hoping to pass them on? Can you find a computer today that will read them? At least we know that they will be able to read the written journal.
What about today’s modern pictograph, the Scrapbook? But will this tell the whole story? With technology where it is today, photographs can be manipulated to the point where fake pictures can look very realistic. I know that early on when I was taking digital photos I experimented with digitally cutting my granddaughter out of her mother’s arms from a picture in Texas and placing her on the sand of a beach in San Diego. I’m not sure if that picture has ended up in a scrapbook or not.
As a husband, father, grandfather, and hopefully someday a great grandfather, I don’t wish to be immediately forgotten but how do I pass on to my family and collectively as a society what is important?
Numerous changes have taken place over the millenniums. Have these changes been for the good?
Don’t forget your KINDLE
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