A Step Closer to the Unknown World

Ever since the internet became available to public, it has been the dominant tool for researching and data gathering. The massive information center is available anytime, for anyone to access, to link across the world. It is said that the internet has made the world smaller by allowing just about every activities to be done in only few clicks including looking up an equation, shopping for new shoes, meeting new friends in a foreign country and many more. It seems almost convincing that with the help of this vast knowledge bank, anyone is capable of reaching out to the rest of the unknown world; but is it really true?

While researching for “History of the Wheelchair,” I came across an image of the first representation of wheelchair, an engraved Chinese image in 525 A.D. Intrigued by the picture, I continued exploring and hoped to find the name of the inventor or the detailed story on how it was made. To my dismay I found nothing.

How could the internet, the greatest source of information in the modern era be lacking resource on such a simple quest? Finally I abadoned my usual key word searching routine and took a different approach. Since the engraved image was found in China, I thought to search in Chinese on a Chinese search engine instead would help me obtain the missing information. As a result, the name of the inventor was found within only few searches, and I was also able to read in depth about his background.

This got me thinking about the limitation of technology and how much we believe in its power. We assume that the internet has made a perfect connection between us and the rest of the world. All we need to do is to simply learn the tool. We also assume that the internet can provide any network for anyone to reach any culture, and through this network we are capable of utilizing any sources efficiently and effectively. We become rather overly dependent on this presumably omnipotent implication without realizing that ultimately, it is only an instrument, a vehicle that only drives as well as our skill allows it to be.

As a child I spent the first twelve years of my life in Taiwan. From then on I was traveling between two countries for school and family visits. Constantly immersed in two separate cultures, I was often amazed at their many value differences. Even with the advanced technology today, the internet, which allows people to communicate globally, discrepancy always exist on the most fundamental perception of things.

A good example is language. Aside from the differences between the Chinese and the English wording structure or grammar architecture, there is a large distinction on the act of writing. In English, the articulation of ideas emphasizes highly on logic and organization. The message needs to be lucid, delivering clear ideas for effortless comprehension. On the other hand most Chinese writings tend to have a complex wording structure. The vocabulary intricacy and the construction of the story atmosphere are paid with much more attention. The writing content may require more interpretation and imagination, but being poetic and painting a beautiful picture are the most important.

The cultural gap becomes even more apparent when chatting with friends from the two countries. I especially find it difficult to translate jokes from one language to the other. While the content remains alike, the story that one culture finds humorous can be terribly dry for the other. Here culture becomes a particular set of mind that constitutes its own unique way of thinking. In spite of being a bilingual person, even when I speak or type in a language, I can feel that my thought process converts and my way of expression changes.

Nevertheless, I became conscious of the existence of cultural differences. Not only cultures from country to country, but to any clusters in society, from cities, to offices or even families. I began examine my findings more critically and kept myself more attentive to my surroundings.

As an Industrial Designer, I would also like to share how different cultures can heavily influence the way a product is perceived. There was a study that tracked how toilets were used when donated to undeveloped countries. No direction was given on how they should be used, and the users were being observed. One group decided that the toilet is a cooking tool where they can cook inside and flush to put out the fire afterwards. Yet another group thought that the toilets were for food washing. They placed fruits and vegetables inside of a net and let the dirt flush away. This instance left me with great impression that a tool may have many subjectively interpreted usages, all perceive on the basis of context.

Thus, over dependency on a single tool is dangerous. This confidence blinds us from the acknowledgment to our lacking understanding of others' views. This then narrows our ability to see in a broader picture. We should be always be careful of our biased assumption and always remember that there are many types of other perspectives in the world that we still may have no idea about, no convenient way to access, and no skill to comprehend.

As our world becomes more global and the accessible information growns increasingly abundant, it is important to be conscious of the limitation of technology. We should be more considerate of other possibilities beyond the things that we see and at the same time, strive to immerse ourselves in new environments in various ways: cultures, languages, practices and perspectives. In the end, it is not the technology that furthers our understanding of the world, but our curiosity to learn about the unknown that excels our minds.