Tech it or leave it

@wwaycorrigan

[For an audio/vlog version of this story, click here.]

Back in my Gaelic (Irish) football-playing days, when the extent of strength and conditioning training was often little more than running and sprinting, I was quite the stickler for following the exact course of any run.

Tech-ache: The rules of engagement are constantly changing. 

For example, if we had to do laps of the field, I wouldn't cut corners — I'd stay outside the lines of the pitch, which was what we were meant to do. And it annoyed me when more laid-back teammates didn't follow these rules. Cheating so-and-sos.

If they happened to finish before me, I'd console myself with the belief that their disingenuous actions would work against them in the, um, long run. (And, quite literally, over longer distances this was usually the case. Or at least the short-cutters would generally finish behind me in such pursuits. It was a different story with sprints. I wasn't blessed with blistering speed.)

'Play up, play up and play the game'

My latent Catholic beliefs no doubt played a part in this mindset. The sinners would be punished for their devilish deeds. OK, they could confess and receive absolution but knowing the characters involved, I figured it was unlikely they'd fess up. 'Mine shall be the Kingdom of Heaven.'

It's one thing, though, being obedient and rules-bound in training. It's quite another to bring that attitude to a competitive game, where winning is everything and your opponents will do what they can to defeat you, including bending if not exactly breaking the rules of engagement. To paraphrase the Kenny Rogers classic, Coward of the County, sometimes you've got to play a little dirty to win.

Or, in a less violent sense, at times you've got to play the field as it is, not as it once was or as you'd like it to be. If not, defeat is inevitable. To avoid that outcome you either adapt to the new conditions or find a different game to play — if that latter option is possible and desirable.

This all resonates with me on various fronts. The most pertinent one is continuous technological advancements, particularly AI, artificial intelligence, in all its forms. For if I continue to play the content creation/multimedia game and dream of better results, there are tools I could use that would most likely enhance what I produce and boost the chances of growing my reach. Yep, still chasing those dragons.

'It's like a man going to battle with a bow and arrow even though some of the most advanced weaponry is at his disposal.'

Now, I've no intention of using AI to write blogs for me. Not only do I view that as beyond cheating — it'd be like a footballer replacing himself on the field with a potentially better robot clone — but it would also be counterproductive personally. I do, you might be shocked to learn, enjoy writing and I like to try to better myself at it, challenging and frustrating as it oftentimes is. In any case, no AI can write like Wrong Way, right?

Laptop lassitude

Where the latest creative technology can be of assistance to me, it seems, is in the making of vlog versions of my blogs. The means, I believe, already exist to make such videos slicker and more eye-catching without much extra effort compared to the crude ones I currently create for Spotify and YouTube. I just haven't dabbled in these means yet.

A general lack of enthusiasm to turn on my laptop these days plays its part. And this laptop lassitude is made more acute in Colombia's hot lands, so my current base of San Martín de los Llanos in the Meta department doesn't help in this regard. Plus, I lack a suitable office with a WiFi connection here — I find it hard to do computer work where I cook, eat and sleep. San Martín, though, is good for me in other ways, I must add.

With my smartphone, I can easily write anywhere. But creating videos requires laptop work. One has greater scope and precision working with a mouse and a bigger screen. Or at least it used to be the case that a computer or laptop was needed to make videos that require a degree of editing. Perhaps the latest smartphones and certain applications make video creation a breeze on phones now. I've had my device, a Motorola One, since 2019; practically a relic in 21st-century tech terms. But if it ain't broke . . .

At play, too, is my minimalist approach and general lack of interest in cutting-edge technology. I use only the apps and gadgets that have become next to essential for my modus operandi, no more, no less.

Nonetheless, to come back to the football field, while I'm still running laps to try to get in shape, most others in this game are working with the best strength and conditioning techniques available.

It's akin to a man going to battle with a bow and arrow even though some of the most advanced weaponry is at his disposal.

So, I either change the way I attack or choose to fight a different war. A blend of both might just be the best option right now.
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Listen to The Corrigan Cast podcast here.

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Going underground

By the very virtue of the fact that I maintain a blog as well as being a paid contributor to an on-line media group, the internet and its associated tools are important for me. 

Indeed, for practically all journalists and writers these days, it's almost an essential part of the gig, especially for those trying to get their name 'out there' or build up a following. Of course, the same could be said for most, if not all, professions.

A life in the wilderness ... ... perhaps it'd get boring after a while?

Therefore, and only looking at this from a work perspective not a social one, when it fails you, it makes your working life damn difficult, frustrating and close to impossible. 

You could say it's like an old-school trench digger without a shovel; the whole operation becomes infinitely harder.

OK, while a man being asked to dig trenches mightn't be too bothered if he's without his shovel through no fault of his own — it should mean a less taxing day — the majority of us who rely on the internet tool get stressed out when we don't have it.

In Bogotá's historical centre, La Candelaría, where only one seemingly incompetent operator, ETB, is the provider, irregular, unreliable service is par for the course; as is the case for many things throughout Colombia you could argue.

Now, I've been trying to let it slide, to not get worked up about it. There are far worse, life-or-death problems both here and elsewhere that make no internet connection pale into insignificance. 

It's a First World issue being played out in a Second/Third World country. But when you pay for a service where a large part of your income depends on its functioning as promised, it can be hard not to lose the cool when it frequently fails.

It does, however, make me dream about being in a position to leave the communications loop, to go underground so to put it. That is, not to be reliant on the internet and all associated with it; both good and evil as these things can be. 

About the only way you can do that, though, is if you escape from the madness and go to live in the middle of the jungle or some other wilderness, completely removing yourself from the modern world.

Maybe it's time to return to some more honest work? (Photo: firstworldwar.com.)

It must be said that, in many ways, I am a conservative technology user as is. I'm still pretty much a smartphone novice, with my use of it limited enough. It enables me to write practically anywhere I am and WhatsApp is a cheap way of maintaining work and social contacts. 

For both monetary and switching-off reasons I don't have a data plan. So I can only use the phone to its fullest when I'm connected to Wi-Fi and that's enough. When I'm out socialising I don't need to be checking e-mails or engaging in virtual chats.

Yet the idea of totally withdrawing from technology and virtual communication while still living in the modern world is akin to becoming a nobody (I'm not quite there yet, so I like to think). Invasive technology has come to dominate our lives in almost every facet; not being part of it puts you at a distinct disadvantage.

That being so, the key is to try and take control of it, not let it control you. We need to find the balance and know when to step back from it. The machines may be rising, but we're still the ones at the pulley.
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