Questions Of Science and Progress

From where I was sitting, the big, bright, loud fireworks were rivaled by a thoroughly panicked eight-year-old voice. This is the longest grand finale EVER. Video tape it Dad! VIDEO TAPE IT!

As we were walking over, I joked that if I wanted to, I could watch the fireworks on my phone. I won't, but there's something about having the option. I didn't include the phrase "of course not" because the reasoning may not be so obvious. Why not just sit at home and watch the fireworks off a phone? Is it not comparable to watching the ball drop in Times Square on New Year's? Well, not for me. To be in New York would a) cost a significant amount of money b) mean that I wouldn't be spending the holiday with all my friends and family back home. But with the fireworks, save the cities plagued by budget cuts, just about anyone can go outside and enjoy with close ones.

I am a strong proponent of technology when it is necessary or convenient. Yes, when. So (I hope you're sitting down), technology is not always necessary.

With the Independence Day fireworks, there is comfort in being in the moment. July 4th, a light summer breeze, the air filled with patriotic songs as performed by a local band. Swatting the occasional insect, watching toddlers mistake glow sticks for straws, reminiscing about previous fourths. A television or a phone is just incapable of capturing such sentiment.

Even if I could identify and locate the infamous eight-year-old from yesterday, I don't think he would have nearly as much to say about the moment. Not because he wouldn't be capable of articulating his thoughts, but because he was so concerned about saving the moment that he could not savor it. Today, or even next year, when he is thinking back to this July 4th, he will only be disappointed that he could not capture the "longest grand finale ever." For what purpose, nobody knows. He will have no recollection of the moment itself. A perfectly enjoyable evening tainted by unnecessary regret.

I may be missing something, but where is the fun in watching a video of the July 4th fireworks three weeks later? By the same token, I do recognize the value in watching a home video of your family spending time together at the July 4th fireworks fourteen years ago.

I strongly believe that there is a certain level of intelligence required where technology is involved. Maybe not necessarily how to use it but when to use it. And it's in making this decision that the human mind will always have an advantage over computers.