July 31, 2018 (Tuesday)
Yesterday I wrote about the first computers we got at church in 1987. I got one at home also after a while. As yet we had no internet, but we made good use of the computers through programs dedicated to specific tasks. I learned to program in BASIC language, and created a number of programs for my own use, mostly trying to give myself some idea of what kind of income I might expect when I retired later. As most of my retired friends know very well, those projections did not hold true, because interest rates are at rock bottom. Pension funds have not fared much better because of market trends.
My most ambitious effort at programming was creation of a way to score the pre-marital
personality tests that I gave to couples planning to marry. Scoring the tests was time-consuming but my program shortened the time. I was very proud of myself for doing that. I even thought of sharing it with the company that produced the materials. But, alas, when I checked into the idea I discovered a warning against such a program. Presumably, they already had such but profits were pobably higher without the computer helps. Whatever the reason, I dropped the idea of sharing my program with the company, or with anyone else.
After I had been using computers for almost a decade, I was introduced to the internet, and that changed everything. From what I have heard and read, we have not begun to exhaust the potential of the digital world.
With the computers the average person has in the home, we are able to perform wonders. We can access information about just about anything. Want to know more about a movie? Look it up. Really want to see a special scene from a decades-old TV show? Look it up. Remember a celebrity from another era? Look him or her up. If they ever recorded their voice, you can probably hear them speak. Wow. What a day we live in.
Want to hear music (of all kinds)? Look up the song, or the orchestra, or the musician, or..whatever. A poem you learned in school 60 years ago? Look it up. You don’t even have to know much about it, because whatever information you have will find it for you.
Remember old classmates from 50 years ago? Look them up and contact them. Want to write a letter? Use e-mail. You’ll get an answer in minutes instead of days or weeks.
How about seeing the earth from space? Just click a few buttons and there is the image of it all.
We have come so far toward knowing it all that some people think we don’t need God. “I believe in science,” someone will say. But what is “science” except learning about the world about us; it is the creation of almighty God. I am thrilled when new discoveries are made–they reveal to me the greatness of our Creator and Sustainer. Inventions such as computers are possible only because the world we live in is orderly and dependable. We joyfully thank God for His worlds and for the knowledge we have gained thus far. There is more to know. I look forward to it all.
Our Milky Way Galaxy (One of billions)