Electronic amnesia

I didn’t realise how reliant I am on modern technology until my office computer stopped working last week. It’s not that anything important has been lost because it automatically backs up the files but it meant that for several days I’ve been without my email history.

No email history means that I don’t remember who I’ve told about things, or what they said. No email history means I can’t recall who volunteered to do what and I don’t have the minutes of the meetings that people have copied to me.

But it also shows in stark relief how much time I spend in front of a computer, how much of my communication with people is electronic rather than face to face and the degree to which my life revolves around modern technology.

For one moment I wondered if I should, perhaps, give up computers for lent. As Jesus said, “sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted…” and as he might have said, “for where your back-up system is, there your heart will be also.”

Me? I went and bought a new laptop.