Life

How do we make use of the time?

6 February 2014

As the original texts are written in Turkish, English translation is provided for non-Turkish readers. The author apologizes in advance for any and all possible changes and losses in meaning due to translation.

My children complain that the internet connection at home is insufficient. My youngest son even asked me once what we used to do when there was no social media. I told him that we used to play marbles, make toys such as cars, and write letters. In amazement, he said “How come? Did you make your toys yourselves? But that should take a very long time!” The conversation came to the conclusion that it becomes more and more uncommon to produce something with our own hands. That reminds me of an interview with Karl Lagerfeld, one of the most creative fashion designers of our times. I remember having read the interview and discussions in the German newspaper “Die Zeit”. Mr. Lagerfeld explained the subject as follows:

Is there anything that we do with our hands anymore?

Is there anyone who writes letters by hand anymore?

Is there anyone who can knit a sweater anymore?

Is there anyone who can make a kite for his kid anymore?

Instead, we write e-mails on our smartphones that use spelling software to predict what we want to write as we currently write it. All our clumsiness is made up by electronic devices everywhere. Everything that is produced by modern businesspeople can be reproduced, copied, viewed, googled, saved, and printed (3D). People in service-based society are exempt from manual works so as to focus on intellectual ones. Thus, they can have more time for other works.

So now, what will we do with all this time?

 

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