[at-l] communications

[spiriteagle99@hotmail.com (Jim and/or Ginny Owen)]

pmags@yahoo.com wrote:

>Just wait until these things are affordable at the
>level cell phones are now affordable. Gives another
>whole view of staying in touch with people. Just about
>anywhere on the planet! I imagine in the not so
>distant future wrist watch type phones will be
>feasible, and just about everyone will have their own
>personal number..able to be reached anywhere....



Mags -
You're making my point about "wilderness" here --- and those who don't want 
to endure my "rambling" should use the delete key now. If you read on you do 
so at your own risk - there be dragons here.

I've worked pretty much on the "cutting edge" of technology for most of my 
life.  I've worked the 36 hour shifts - and the 120 hour weeks - sometimes 
for months on end.  I've worked with world-wide comm nets and wonderfully 
complex spacecraft and ground control systems.  And I've loved what I've 
done.  But I've consistently refused to carry anything that would constitute 
a "chain" that tied me to the job. The only "chain" I've ever tolerated is 
my own sense of duty and loyalty - and that is a much harsher mistress than 
any boss or company will ever be.  But I learned long ago that when I leave 
the job, to leave it, not take it home with me nor allow it to pursue me 
when I'm not actively there.

The only time I've ever carried a "beeper" was when I was working in the 
depths of Launch Complex B (the Shuttle pad) - and pagers and cell phones 
don't work down there :-)  I have yet to buy (or own) a cell phone and I 
know that carrying a satellite phone would really make me gag.  And I 
believe that those who "need" GPS units to navigate really need to learn how 
to navigate so they can leave the GPS at home.

No - I'm not a Luddite - I've spent a lot of years helping to make those 
satellite phones possible.  But if I want "real wilderness", I know it's not 
possible to achieve if I'm tied to the world of computers and spacecraft and 
cars and ............ (whatever) by that invisible but ubiquitous link 
provided by cell and satellite phones.

Like the job - when I leave "civilization" - I leave it.  I don't take any 
more of it with me than is necessary for survival. I go out there to find a 
level of "wilderness" that can't be encountered by those who drag their 
"lifestyle" with them.

I know - there are those who think the AT is wilderness.  And they're 
welcome to that illusion if it keeps them happy.  If nothing else, it keeps 
them out of the places that would kill them - at least until they develop 
more of the skills and attitude to survive in a more basic level of 
wilderness.  Sooner or later some of those on this list (or the other one) 
will develop the need for more wilderness than the AT offers.  And I'd 
encourage them to seek it. But before they do, they might best learn more 
than what the AT teaches.  And they'd best leave behind some of the AT 
attitudes that some of them pick up. If they encounter real wilderness, some 
of those attitudes can kill them.

Some time ago Sloetoe questioned whether he and I were at odds with each 
other over his definition of wilderness.  The answer is no, Toey - we don't 
necessarily diverge over the definition, just over the words you use to 
describe it.  With regard to the basic concept, we're on the same page - 
just using different languages.  The words "out of control" describe nearly 
every human being that I've ever known - not perhaps, all the time, but 
certainly most of the time.  I know few to none of the human race who 
actually control their lives - or in most cases, their actions, they simply 
pretend to.  I know few humans who can enter real wilderness - being cut off 
from contact with their fellow humans, cut off from "civilization", and 
realizing that they're no longer at the top of the food chain - without 
experiencing some level of fear and anxiety.  That fear and anxiety is the 
measure of real wilderness.  For some, it occurs on the AT.  For some, it 
happens in a city park.  For some of us, it's an addiction and we seek 
deeper and deeper levels of wilderness - and sometimes we forget that the 
rest of the race doesn't share our addiction.  Some of us really can't go 
home again - and those who would join us should realize that there's both 
joy and pain in that.

Walk softly,
Jim




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