Colossal misdirection play?

We have learned of the games held in the Roman Colosseum, either through recorded history or as replicated by Hollywood and embellished for the viewer’s pleasure. To outshine their predecessors, Roman emperors would expend vast sums enhancing the imposing structure. There is evidence, according to some archeologists, that it was even modified to enable flooding for the purpose of reenacting victorious Roman sea battles. And, as people watched the games, for which no expense was spared, that great society fell into decline.

Sound familiar in a scary way? It does for me, too. It’s called the “misdirection play.” I learned it in fourth grade while playing “the game” of peewee football. It scared me then, too, just as it does today, because every time I was deceived by the misdirection play, I got hurt.

As I observe the world today, I wonder if I am witnessing the undoing of another great society. There are certainly many parallels that can be drawn between today and Roman times, and there are certainly many more coliseums. If history is on a path to repeat itself, what will the role of technology be? Savior or contributor to the destruction?

As people watched the games, for which no expense was spared,
that great society fell into decline.

The reason I ask this question is because of a recent vacation experience I had with two children, of whom I am not the parent. The purpose of this vacation was to expose these kids—ages 6 and 9—to the “Great Outdoors.” I applaud their parents for choosing this option over a theme park-based trip. But, as it turned out, when given a choice between going inside to play with technology or going outside to take a walk in the woods and experience nature—perhaps to see real animals in lieu of stuffed ones at gift shops in town—they chose technology.

As I processed these children’s interactions with technology, my mind was flooded with questions: Will they use it to cure cancer? Will they use it to go to Mars and back? Will they use it to find a way to solve the problem of the world’s ever-increasing demand for energy? One could ponder many other questions about the dark side of technology. But the question I kept coming back to was not how they might use technology, but how technology would be applied to them?

Recent events reported in the media have put “Personal Big Data” front and center in the public eye. There is no doubt that social media with all its underlying and associated technologies—one source of big data—have been demonstrated to have positive social benefits. But, in all fairness, we have also seen its negative social impact. So, two questions: 1) “Is technology in the hands of future generations going to have a net positive or negative effect on the future?” And 2) “Will technology, in this coliseum of the future, be a big misdirection play where everybody feels like they are in the game, but where no one goes outside to see the animals until, finally, they’re not there to see?”

For Reflections on Nursing Leadership (RNL), published by the Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International. Comments are moderated. Those that promote products or services will not be posted.