There are Dragons Lurking in the Forest

Make no mistake. Dragons do exist. We may not be living in forests any longer but there are real dragons lurking out there. Modern dragons of the virtual kind like Google and Facebook.

Right now many people are keenly anticipating the imminent unleashing of Facebook’s secret plans as it prepares to ingest our personal data with its insatiable appetite. Meanwhile, Google is hatching its own plans.

These are two of the most powerful uber-consumers of today and they are contentedly feeding on the tasty morsels of our personal details. Furthermore, we are voluntarily feeding them information faster than they can digest our offerings.

Of course they purport to be helping us – for our own good and convenience. But are they really helping us? They seem more and more intent on gobbling up everything in their paths – including our very privacy.

Ever read the book 1984 by George Orwell?

He was the originator of the phrase “big brother” who he cleverly predicted would soon be watching us from every street corner.

I think the book may be worth a re-visit just for the fun of it because though his predictions were regarded as outlandish at the time, he didn’t even skim the surface of what was to eventually transpire.

But he did get one thing right. Big brother is certainly watching us.

Personally, I don’t want to be part of anyone’s data feed. And I particularly don’t want to be owned by the virtual soul seekers of today.

I prize my independence and I just want to be able to do my own thing freely and at a normal pace. I want to be in control of my own space and I want to be captain of my own ship.

Unfortunately there is so much clamour out there that we can’t even think straight – let alone be creative. It’s so much easier to do as we’re told. And that’s exactly why right now, more than ever, it’s time to take a deep breath.

We need to slow down the pace. We need to think before we divulge too much of our information. In short, we need to think more carefully about what it is that we really want and in doing so at least try to achieve some semblance of normality.

And if that means upsetting a dragon or two so be it!