The Pulse
Our devices (with clouds) were always in sync.
At our fingertips: the world. Why memorize fact
When our device could sense, decide and act?
What informed our judgment? Wikipedia,
Copilot, Gemini, LLMs, social media.
Critical thinking was done by machine.
No need to reasonęˇ just click on the screen.
Our collective consciousness was the Internet brain
(though our social skills were down the drain).
Personal interaction we would arbitrarily shun:
Like the plague, we avoided one-on-one.
Our go-to resource was our iPhone or Android.
Embarrassment and vulnerability it helped us avoid.
Whenever decisions were demanded in haste,
We’d quickly plagiarize, copy and paste.
People demanded concise sound bytes,
Not onerous expository proselytes.
Our value was in providing the right short answers,
Not original thought. We became agile tap dancers.
We’d intentionally fail to cite our source,
Taking full credit for stealing ideas, of course.
And brief responses would conveniently conceal
The shortcomings we wished not to reveal,
e.g., with language (our lack of facility).
And in live discourse, our sense of vulnerability
And diminishing recall. But we did not fret:
Our devices remembered; we were free to forget.
Our networks were shocked with an EMP,
Resulting in chaos and unbridled anarchy.
Our trusted Web of networked synapses
Was devastated with major memory lapses.
The widespread outage was analogous to a stroke;
The grid shut down with no fire or smoke.
Our collective consciousness was the Internet brain
(though our social skills were down the drain).
Personal interaction we would arbitrarily shun:
Like the plague, we avoided one-on-one.
Our go-to resource was our iPhone or Android.
Embarrassment and vulnerability it helped us avoid.
Whenever decisions were demanded in haste,
We’d quickly plagiarize, copy and paste.
People demanded concise sound bytes,
Not onerous expository proselytes.
Our value was in providing the right short answers,
Not original thought. We became agile tap dancers.
We’d intentionally fail to cite our source,
Taking full credit for stealing ideas, of course.
And brief responses would conveniently conceal
The shortcomings we wished not to reveal,
e.g., with language (our lack of facility).
And in live discourse, our sense of vulnerability
And diminishing recall. But we did not fret:
Our devices remembered; we were free to forget.
Our networks were shocked with an EMP,
Resulting in chaos and unbridled anarchy.
Our trusted Web of networked synapses
Was devastated with major memory lapses.
The widespread outage was analogous to a stroke;
The grid shut down with no fire or smoke.
After the hits and the blaming, so shrill,
We finally re-learned our collaborative skill.
Unconcerned with phishing and hacks,
We resumed our research in old journal stacks.
We hastened the rebirth of community libraries.
Books were celebrated; we planted more trees.
We finally re-learned our collaborative skill.
Unconcerned with phishing and hacks,
We resumed our research in old journal stacks.
We hastened the rebirth of community libraries.
Books were celebrated; we planted more trees.
No longer imprisoned by silence and travail,
Knowledge is shared by flash drive and snail mail.
Families don't tolerate disengagement or fighting.
Kids find utility in cursive handwriting.
Internet’s out but we’re persistent and timeless.
Waxing poetic, we refuse to remain rhymeless.
We endured the crash with courage and resolve,
And are again determined to progress and evolve.
Knowledge is shared by flash drive and snail mail.
Families don't tolerate disengagement or fighting.
Kids find utility in cursive handwriting.
Internet’s out but we’re persistent and timeless.
Waxing poetic, we refuse to remain rhymeless.
We endured the crash with courage and resolve,
And are again determined to progress and evolve.
Will Walsh