One Thanksgiving, I was asked a questionby my grandfather, who always seems to have some deep moral hidden inhis questions. He asked if I even knew what technology was in a worldthat itself is a technology. Usually when asked these types ofquestions, I think about them for a while and then forget them. For somereason this question, however, is different. I am constantly reminded ofit because, I suppose, everything around me is technology. I havecontemplated this question for more than a year now and so far, here isthe best answer I have come up with.

Every day something new isinvented to make life easier. What I find strange, though, is that asthe world becomes easier to live in, it seems to need more. People findsolutions for problems that barely exist.

Do I really need thatMP3 player when I can just burn a CD? Or do I even need that CD burnerwhen I can go out and buy the CD? Or do I really need that CD when I canread a book instead? This progression - or regression - could go onforever. For every invention, a new and better one willfollow.

The more I look at the world and technology, the more Ithink about myself. Without even realizing it, my life has beenaffected by technology and its never-ending advances. While Ihave spent days writing endless emails and watching DVDs, I neverstopped to think about the technology behind these devices.

Insixth grade, I learned in history that the biggest advance of theMesolithic Age was the fish hook. A fish hook! The little object thatthose who fish attach to a line and cast out, as they sit for hours andhours reading novels and eating. They wait patiently, their novel halfread and their bag of chips fully digested, waiting to catch a fish thatwill probably require all their strength to haul from thewater.

I thought about this because I found it ironic that anadvance so enormous that it meant the survival of a community couldlater become a pleasurable pastime, its sole purpose now just to catchthe biggest fish. I wonder if fishermen ever think about the skill ittook to create that fish hook, or realize that it was the most importantinvention of a whole age.

I worry that I do not understand thegenius behind technology. I have turned on lamps countless times withoutreally appreciating Thomas Edison’s invention. Talking on thetelephone, I forget to thank Alexander Graham Bell for this miracle ofcommunication.

Even after thinking and writing about technology,I still do not think I have fully answered the question my grandfatherasked me. I believe the answer is no - I do not really know whattechnology is, because everything around me is technology. I supposetechnology is anything from the invention of a fish hook to the abilityto clone sheep. Technology is inevitable.

Through necessity weinvent, and through invention we need more. This never-ending circle oftechnology has brought the world this far. How much more can the worldpossibly need?