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Thursday 29 October 2015

Let the children use the technologies .... with common sense!

Following the previous post, this one is about COMMON SENSE.

The technologies are not good or bad, depends, rather, the use that is made of them. Unfortunately, they only bring operating instructions and do not provide instructions on how to behave with them.


A simplistic example. A knife is good or bad? It depends. If it is to kill someone, it's bad. But to defend us from attack, it is good. And if in an operation? It's good. And if the doctor belongs to an organ trafficking network? It's bad ... and so on.

All this to say that the use of technology by children (and adults too, for that matter) have to obey a code of conduct to be defined as problems occur. It is the typical case of "only know later ...".

It is the time it takes to set the new code of conduct that tends to exasperate the most nostalgic, skeptics and pessimists. What an horror the phone ringing at cinema! Yes, but before it rings a few times, nobody thought it could happen! What an horror kids staying hours and hours at computer! Yes, but before it happened, who guessed?


I think that these matters must prevail common sense. But this "common sense" must result from the integration between what was important in the past, what is important in the present, and what we think will be the future.

One of the best examples of this is the construction of downtown Lisbon made by the Marquis of Pombal after the earthquake of 1755. He rebuilt the city for the future, considering the needs of the present then, and respecting its past. Of course, at the time, everybody disputed the exaggerated width of the downtown streets, but he replied "One day you will find them narrow". It was confirmed.

Nothing worse than to take decisions only on the basis of Past, who has since died. For example, in Portugal, a ban on the opening of hypermarkets on Sunday. Or just based on the present, that will disappear. For example, the construction of 10 football stadiums for Euro 2004. Or just based on the future, which is guesswork. For example, the construction of the huge network of motorways, which was confirmed to be maladjusted to traffic.

And now a video that shows the commentator Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa reading a mobile phone SMS right in the program of TVI! Hum ... is it fashionable?


Finally, a provocative question. The TV, mobile phone or computer put away the members of a family, or the family is already tucked away and technologies are only a symptom / getaway?

Oh...this question must have hurt ...


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