Reality Smarts

And smart reality smarts big-time.

Most of you are reading this column on an electronic device. Elder Schmidt and Elder Dunkelbier in Pennsylvania may be the exception…however there is only so much humour allowed amongst the Brethren anyway and it doesn’t do to laugh whilst milking.

But the elders do get a chance to read at night by the coal-oil lamps and they have distinct advantages over the rest of us:

a. The oil lamp is a yellow light. Their retinas and brains are not over-stimulated by blue light an hour before bedtime and they can get to sleep faster.

b. The pages they read do not jitter from side to side nor pass up and down with the flick of the thumb. The print is steadier.

c. When the power goes off and we are all sitting in the dark with no TV, computer, or tablet, they still have a bookshelf. The books they’ve stocked it with last a very much longer time than any of the electronic devices – and they never need updates, reboots, or defragging. No screen to shatter.

d. By the time a book gets into print, the thoughts expressed in it have been seen and corrected by a dozen editors and publishers. They are not the foolish outpouring of some teenage or presidential mind. They may be right or wrong, but they are not raw.

They can read a book at their own pace. One cannot watch Netflix or YouTube at any pace other than that set by the presenters. Going back to re-read a passage is infinitely easier than trying to rewind a video presentation accurately.

e. The budget of their imagination is far more than that of a studio. They can achieve more colour, bigger characters, better actors, and more extravagant sets. They expect the full meal from a book.

The final advantage of a book is that it can be secreted, lost, or burnt, with a chance that sad information in it will disappear as soon as it does. Internet material never disappears, and can be recalled to our embarrassment forever.

More power to your pitchforks and buggy whips, Friends.