Two Slashes

It’s always been said that there was a purpose involved with studying history.  Movies constantly preach about how you must study the past to move forward, and there are millions of people who dwell on historic fact in hopes that we can learn more about where we came from, and perhaps piece together shards of the map to our destination…whatever that destination is.  And one piece of history nobody can neglect is their own childhood - the only history not taught in schools.

Unfortunately, the majority of people are becoming more and more disconnected from their past, the times before that molded their lives into what they are, and there’s seemingly nothing we can do to stop it.  It’s not helping that evolution seems to be playing its part, as people seem to be jumping right from childhood to adulthood, skipping the memories that could help shape their lives and interests.

Digg was nice enough to remind me of a small part of my past in a roundabout way with the link to this article about the decline and possible extinction of pinball.  It’s saddening enough to realize that people don’t want the real thing anymore; they’re too busy firing up the cheap Microsoft imitation included on their PC, or playing something more recent like Halo 3 or Call of Duty 4.  What’s amusing to me is that these people play their games without a single thought as to what came before, or how they’ve developed into what they’ve become.  Hardly anyone younger than 20 even knows what an NES or Atari is, and you can completely forget about trying to convince them that anything older existed.  Some people might occasionally experience this phenomenon even with people of the proper age, just as I did earlier today what with re-introducing several classmates to the wonderful world of Hover!.  (No, that’s not bad punctuation…the legitimate name is “Hover!”.)

The pinball decline is understandable; the people who used to feed the machines with quarters they earned selling bottles and cans are now the people earning tens of thousands of dollars answering phones and making business deals with each other, and their priorities have changed from high score tables to high-return stocks.  What these people forget, however, is how easily the tables turn at the execution of a simple movement (a la bumping the table or using a flipper, though I could be making a metaphor )…and it might do them well to recall it.  And the machines that were once shrines to hours of fun are now the relics and antiques of yesteryear.  (Side note:  My hand is in those pictures on the first page as I help out repairing an older table…)

The lesson isn’t just relevant to pinball or old games, though.  As I said before, everyone’s always on the fast track, only worrying about where they’re going with no concerns about where they’ve been.  Perhaps it would be worth it to stop, take a second’s pause, and note what you have/see/do.  Then compare it with notes you’ve made, and the notes you will make.  Everyone claims they can improve…but without the records of what you’ve done in the past, how can you improve without a benchmark?  An even better solution would be to “Stay Young“, but without the experiences of their past, how could anyone possibly expect to

This is one of those times where suggestions on how to help yourself might be appropriate, so I might as well fill the gap while I have the chance.  If you really want to review the past (and especially yours in particular), it needs to be documented.  Memories fade, and opinions change as the result of new experiences, therefore a record is the only feasible way of maintaining a non-tainted record of the past as it was.  What I mean by record is completely flexible here.  For the more adventurous, there are plenty of blogging areas, but even keeping a simple word-processing document with some thoughts once in a while would be enough.  If you’re a photographer, take pictures.  If your nickname is Steven Spielberg, go make yourself a short video once in a while.  Even if you keep them to yourself, you’ll notice that the self-reflection (and even just the enabled ability to) is really what people mean when they tell you to “look at where you’ve come from.”

I think I’m getting too intellectual for the late-night hours…that’s enough insomniac-posting for one night for me.