Climbing the Mountains of the World

One summer some years ago, I went backpacking with a group of my friends in the Appalachian Mountains in east Tennessee. Now, for those from the West, these mountains would only appear as rolling hills, but for me they truly felt like mountains as I was climbing them. As we ascended to the summit of one of these “glorified hills,” my body felt sore and tired. Every switchback’s end made me think I had reached my destination, yet sadly I was disappointed as the trail continued upward. I never thought it would end. 

The path we followed leading us to heaven (or so I thought) took us into the clouds. By this time, the day was coming to a close and we came to our desired campsite for the evening. We couldn’t see much of the world around us because of the twilight and cloud cover. And not many of us really wanted to see anything except the backs of our eyelids because of how exhausted we were. Needless to say, I slept like a rock.

The next morning we arose to brilliant sunshine coming through the trees. I felt rejuvenated because of the warmth. We disassembled our tents and packed our bags, ready to start out again. We hiked through the trees for less than an hour and finally reached the summit above the clouds. It was breathtaking getting to see the vast forest beneath us and see the rest of the mountains rolling northward. It was a moment when I felt connected to everything around me, and the beauty I saw made the mind-numbing ascent well worth the effort.

This is how I feel about using

new forms of digital media. Right now, I am still in the ascent with my brain aching because of the influx of information that I am taking in. I feel that soon I will break through the clouds and see the beauty created by a digitally connected world.

One of the elements that I think will make the journey more bearable is being able to work with others to understand the evolving digital world. Because my brain is small, being able to tap the intelligence and skill of others will be necessary to reach the pinnacle of using digital technology to its fullest potential. The idea of social discovery makes this possible. It is a real change from the standard epistemology I am comfortable with, but I feel that I will be able to learn more by opening a dialogue with real people as opposed to interacting solely with texts.