What If ?
By Maggs
@maggs224 (2320)
Alicante, Spain
May 13, 2020 6:52am CST
Technology has and still is playing a big part in this current lock down crisis that is affecting so many countries around the world.
It makes me wonder what would happen if for some reason the internet, mobile phone and the television signals all went down how would people cope.
I know there is not a universal kill switch that can be flipped that will switch them all off unless there is something like a nuclear electromagnetic pulse.
I know that there is legislation in place that restrict what governments can and can't do when it comes to shutting things down, but I also know that if they create the right circumstance they can actually manipulate us into thinking something is for our own good when it is just for their benefit not ours.
I am sure I would miss those things especially the communication side of things, but I am sure that my generation would not find it too difficult to cope with such an event.
This is mainly because for a large part of our lives we have lived without most of those things and we managed to lived quite well.
But for the younger generation I would imagine that this lock down without those things would have been an entirely different experience to the one we are experiencing right now.
What do you think?
9 people like this
9 responses
@JohnRoberts (109846)
• Los Angeles, California
13 May 20
People would scream and go insane and demand this lockdown be over. Those that love it so much would sing a different tune without their tech. It is because of heavier traffic with everyone at home that is causing tech issues and internet frequently going down.
3 people like this
@maggs224 (2320)
• Alicante, Spain
13 May 20
@JohnRoberts I think the teenagers who have known nothing else would be the worst hit by this happening. They have grown up with a heavy reliance on this technology and I think without just their phone their anxiety levels would be through the roof.
3 people like this
@mynameiskate (2574)
•
21 May 20
I'm not a teenager, I'm an ager. 
..but I'm thinking without my little computer I would be stressed. I use it offline too. You know I've never tried just turning it off for an extended period of time.
..but I'm thinking without my little computer I would be stressed. I use it offline too. You know I've never tried just turning it off for an extended period of time.1 person likes this
@maggs224 (2320)
• Alicante, Spain
22 May 20
@mynameiskate Sorry I missed this comment Kate, like you I use my laptop a lot and like you I use it off line too, I use mine a lot for editing and messing about with my photographs. When I have gone on holiday, I have not take my laptop with me and usually I have not missed it, especially since the memory cards for my camera are so much larger than they used to be and so much cheaper too.
I wouldn'be stress if I couldn't use the computer for am extended period of time but I would miss being able to use it.
@simone10 (54187)
• Louisville, Kentucky
17 May 20
I agree with you! I didn't have most of these things growing up so I could probably adapt. But, if we didn't have tv, it would take some getting used to. It would force me to do some of the things around my home that I have put off. Like cleaning my closet.
1 person likes this
@maggs224 (2320)
• Alicante, Spain
17 May 20
@simone10 When you think about all the things you have adapted to during this crisis Sharon, it shows us just how good at adapting we are and how quickly we find something else to put in its place.
Often what we replace it with is better than what we had, or we find things that we feared in our imagination, when we were forced by circumstance to confront it, we found that we were much better at handling it than we feared we would be and it was not so scary after all.
1 person likes this
@DianneN (247186)
• United States
13 May 20
I’m certain most of the younger generation would go crazy.
I know that when we lost cable for several days last year due to a tree falling in the lines and ripping it from the house, I enjoyed more outdoors time and my books.
However, I prefer to have all the comforts of technology.
1 person likes this
@maggs224 (2320)
• Alicante, Spain
17 May 20
@DianneN I know just what you mean because when I video chat with my daughter who lives thousands of mile away I am often surprised when I see how much time has passed.
Sometimes if the conversation is flowing we can be chatting for nearly two hours lol... But usually it is round about an hour. During the crisis though she checks up on me everyday so the calls are often only a few minutes long now which is fine too.
1 person likes this
@amitkokiladitya (171927)
• Agra, India
13 May 20
Haha..if these are taken away humans will definitely go crazy
1 person likes this
@maggs224 (2320)
• Alicante, Spain
13 May 20
@amitkokiladitya I wonder if we have seen yet the price we are going to pay for all these things. There is mounting concern about the long term effects of things like microwave masts and mobile phone technology on the human body.
1 person likes this
@maggs224 (2320)
• Alicante, Spain
13 May 20
@amitkokiladitya I am sure that you are right Kokil I am glad that I haven't got any teenagers anymore lol...
1 person likes this
@amitkokiladitya (171927)
• Agra, India
13 May 20
@maggs224 I guess now the mankind has reached such a state that the withdrawal Symptoms of all these things would be very intense
1 person likes this
@mynameiskate (2574)
•
15 May 20
I'm old school and raised on television. I always thought of television like junk food but there were such good things on it too. My life revolved around it. Don't know what I would do without the internet. Maybe I would just write and stuff?
What is happening with this pandemic is confusing me at times and talk about government these days is really something else. If we look at history though are we not better off? I think so, yes?
1 person likes this
@maggs224 (2320)
• Alicante, Spain
16 May 20
@mynameiskate Now Kate is absolutely the best time to be alive, and when you think about it, now is the only we ever get to live in. We have so many things to be grateful for but it is easy to forget them when trouble or crisis looms or hits us. I feel a post coming on lol....
1 person likes this
@mynameiskate (2574)
•
16 May 20
@maggs224 I like how we desire to write. Not sure where you will go with being appreciative but will look forward to anything you might put up.
Don't know if this applies but found this article interesting both in similarities and differences we are experiencing now.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/from-the-archives-the-influenza-epidemic-of-1919-reaches-sydney-20190125-p50tqh.html
1 person likes this
@mynameiskate (2574)
•
16 May 20
@maggs224 Yes the numbers are larger and yet the world population was less. Maybe the numbers would be that high if people had ignored it completely. I thought the advice was different in that time period. They were more out and about it seems. They recommended changing your clothes around family and to stay outdoors? I got the sense that doctors could determine who was contagious and who was not? Was that true I wonder.
1 person likes this
@Allionnazxyl (279)
•
13 May 20
That is like the worst lockdown for the generation today. My kids will definitely be forced to know the way how we live back then, and they really should, if they plan to live a meaningful life without the net.
1 person likes this
@maggs224 (2320)
• Alicante, Spain
13 May 20
@Allionnazxyl I know that so much of today's technology is designed to get you addicted to and reliant on it. It is so easy to sit in front of the telly or a laptop and let the digital world take your attention as I know to my cost lol...
1 person likes this
@maggs224 (2320)
• Alicante, Spain
17 May 20
@Allionnazxyl I think that if it ever really happened you would most likely surprise yourself at how well and how quickly you would adapt to your new normal. I think many people have returned to things they didn't have time to do in the business of their normal working life and rekindled their love of doing those things. In the pressures of everyday life they had forgotten how much fun they had doing those things. Many will make sure not to lose them again when things are free from the restraints of this crisis.
1 person likes this
@Allionnazxyl (279)
•
23 May 20
@maggs224 Oh, that is soooooo true to me. It was like I am reunited to the old me again, and everything that goes with it.
1 person likes this
@GardenGerty (160626)
• United States
18 May 20
I would do okay. I would be grouchy at first, and then I would find something else to occupy my mind.
1 person likes this
@maggs224 (2320)
• Alicante, Spain
18 May 20
@GardenGerty I am sure that you would soon get over not having those things Heather you sound like you are pretty switched on even without the technology lol....
@maggs224 (2320)
• Alicante, Spain
13 May 20
@marlina hi Marlina, I must admit that I love many aspects of the technology and the convenience and affordability of being able to video chat with my daughter who lives thousands of miles away in the USA for nothing. I would miss our chats, which have become daily during this lock down period and has brought immediate reassurance to both of us that all is well. But like a lot of things those things are wonderful servants but make terrible masters lol...
1 person likes this
@maggs224 (2320)
• Alicante, Spain
17 May 20
@Hannihar I am always surprised how quickly people in general adapt to new circumstances. Often I think our fear of the unknown is worse than when we are actually confronted by those fearful circumstances. We as a species are very resilient and most people are able to rise up to the challenges in life much better than they give themselves credit for.
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