positivity #4

Positivity #4

Today's positivity post will focus on just how awesome random connectivity is in the year 2017.

If you want to make a well-formed opinion on something, you need first hand experience, or at the very least, second hand knowledge.

In the past, to get someones second-hand knowledge; you would need to know, and have a reliable way of getting in contact with them.

Before air travel, it was only the super-adventurous that went places. You lived vicariously through the written recounting of their experiences. Usually in a book, some periodical (TIME/National Geographic/etc), or the newspaper.

Various wars waged across the world brought a lot of people to far-flung places; and many people traveled around afterwards for re-settlement, but let's not pretend that these were always happy times.

This is a topic for another day, but I believe that we'll never see another 'world-war' due to the 'connected-ness" of the modern world (there certainly won't be a repeat of the attempts to dehumanise a future enemy) it's hard to believe propaganda when you have a friend in the country in question...

Post WWII - it was easier to travel, but more expensive.

Sure - you could pick up a telephone, and call someone on the other side of the world - but who do you call?

Films (and eventually Television) gave a 'window' into the far-off places of the world - but basic storytelling dictates that there's going to be a lot of embellishment to make it exciting.

I contend that it's the one-two punch of "mobile devices" and the "internet" that has made the world today an almost completely connected entity.

You can hold in your hand, a real-time 'window' to the other side of the globe (video-call someone, it's spectacular to think about).

On the topic of travel

Group-sourcing information has now completely replaced the idea of a travel agent's opinion. (if people have indeed ever used one)

These days it's more likely that you've looked at online reviews; whether directly involved with the topic of your search (resorts' Facebook page), or via some aggregate site (TripAdvisor etc...)

Case in point,

Last night Lisa received a notification on her phone that someone had 'commented' on her review of our recent vacation.

This comment was phrased as a question, which Lisa was able to reply to from the comfort of her couch via the micro-computer in her hand.

Let's just think about that part for a second. A random person who had an interest in going somewhere, read someone else's opinion online, was then able to ask a question, with reasonable hope of a reply...

...and it all happened within minutes.

There was hope of a result, and a connection made because of the awesomeness of this technology.

When the question was answered - there was a decent expectation that the information was an unbiased, direct, second-hand experience.

No middle-man with questionable motives *(gotta sell those rooms that are empty), just a fellow traveller recounting their experiences.

It's almost like everyone is a pioneering "turn-of-the-century" explorer.

What an amazing time to be alive.