The following selection, which is circulating on the internet, is a crystal-clear reflection of the extreme degree to which we are exposed in the digital world. It’s a painful satire. It is, indeed, absurd; that is what allows it to portray so sharply the extent to which every person is exposed, more or less, because of technological progress.         

The main substance of the article follows the quoted selection.        

 

Ordering a Pizza in 2021

CALLER:

 Is this Pizza Delight?

GOOGLE:

No sir, it’s Google Pizza.

CALLER:

I must have dialed a wrong number. Sorry.

GOOGLE:

No sir, Google bought Pizza Delight last month.

CALLER:

1. I would like to order a pizza.

GOOGLE:

Do you want your usual, sir?

CALLER:

My usual? You know me?

GOOGLE:

According to our caller ID data sheet, the last 12 times you called you ordered an extra-large pizza with three cheeses, sausage, pepperoni, mushrooms and meatballs on a thick crust.

CALLER:

OK! That’s what I want …

GOOGLE:

May I suggest that this time you order a pizza with ricotta, arugula, sun-dried tomatoes and olives on a whole wheat gluten-free thin crust?

CALLER:

What? I detest vegetable!

GOOGLE:

Your cholesterol is not good, sir.

CALLER:

How the hell do you know!

GOOGLE:

Well, we cross-referenced your home phone number with your medical records. We have the result of your blood tests for the last 7 years.

CALLER:

Okay, but I do not want your rotten vegetable pizza! I already take medication for my cholesterol.

GOOGLE:

Excuse me sir, but you have not taken your medication regularly. According to our database, you purchased only a box of 30 cholesterol tablets once, at Drug RX Network, 4 months ago.

CALLER:

I bought more from another drugstore.

GOOGLE:

That doesn’t show on your credit card statement.

CALLER:

I paid in cash.

GOOGLE:

But you did not withdraw enough cash according to your bank statement.

CALLER:

I have other sources of cash.

GOOGLE:

That doesn’t show on your last tax return unless you bought them using an undeclared income source, which is against the law.

CALLER:

WHAT THE HELL!

GOOGLE:

I’m sorry, sir, we use such information only with the sole intention of helping you.

CALLER:

Enough already! I’m sick to death of Google, Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp and all the others. I’m going to an island without internet, cable TV, where there is no cell phone service and no one to watch me or spy on me.

GOOGLE:

I understand sir, but you need to renew your passport first. It expired 6 weeks ago

Too good?

Every step forward, all progress contains both a blessing and a “curse.” None of us can stop development – or as I prefer, evolution – any more than we can stop the sun from rising in the morning and setting in the evening. Once a process is set in motion, its continues on its own path.

The truly welcome vaccine, for which so many scientists in many countries labored determinedly in order to bring relief to the world, inspires us to take a deep bow to honor the world of science, the many individuals who collaborated on research and the scientific articles that overwhelm laypeople who attempt to read them. At this point, I ask myself how we, who benefit from the fruits of scientific research and toil that successfully produced a vaccine for Covid-19 in the shortest possible time, so we could return to the way of life that the virus halted, also contribute?

Would we not want to cooperate with the research, with the companies that have succeeded in inventing a vaccine? What could our contribution be? The little can offer is trivial exposure, sharing how we felt and what happened to us after receiving the vaccine. This is our modest contribution! Each and every one of us has an opportunity to contribute to science and perhaps thereby assist multitudes of people around the world.

What do we have hide? Our the health problems are common to all; we have the same lungs, liver, heart, airways, and allergies, etc. We should surely want to share as much as possible, to contribute for the benefit not only of current generations but, hopefully, to future generations as well.

Sometimes I think, with sorrow, that the ideological/philosophical world so dominates us, that common sense, which is actually a gift shared by all humanity, as a part of nature, has been buried under the tremendous weigh of our credos. Isn’t that a shame?