X wing cockpit targeting screen12/3/2023 When his moment comes, he takes the shot-and a few beats later, the Death Star is no more.Ī New Hope was released in 1977. He takes a deep breath, and seems to become both relaxed and intensely focused. “Luke, you turned off your computer, is something wrong?” And Luke does he turns off his computer and the screen retracts back into its console. “Luke, trust me,” says Obi-Wan, to seal the deal. Luke hears the voice but thinks it is just in his head, and keeps looking at the screen. While he is setting the instrument, Luke hears the voice of his mentor, Obi-Wan Kenobi, a powerful Jedi Knight who now speaks to Luke from the great beyond. Another pilot had used this same technology to take the same shot, and had missed the mark. While he is getting into position, Luke is looking down the trench through a targeting computer that shows him the view outside his cockpit. You probably remember it, too: Luke Skywalker is flying down a trench in the Death Star, attempting to blow up the entire battle station with one fateful shot from his X-Wing fighter. Watching him reminds me of a scene in the original Star Wars film, A New Hope-a moment of cinematic genius that was years ahead of its time. If only this teenager would put the phone away and look around at the living world of the senses in which he lives. There is no true adventure, no depth, no reward in being a walking screen zombie. But, without it, my senses moved outward and I found solace in the richness of the world around me and within me. Yes, it was boring at times, and sure, I might have longed for a TV in the palm of my hand, if I had thought of such a thing. With no phone, the world was my stimulation. I can’t help but think back to my own experience of being 14 and walking down a road. I can recall always looking up and around, into the forest, around the neighborhood. If we don’t know this world deeply, how will we care for it? I worry about people being drawn into alternate virtual worlds in order to escape the day-to-day banality of life in analog. He is not really here, and he is not alone in his absence-a whole generation is “not here” with him.Īnd the phone is just the beginning I wonder in what ways the new virtual reality consoles will change society in the years to come. He does not hear the crow cawing overhead. (I cringe to think about the condition of his cervical spine in a few years if this practice keeps up!) He does not see the trees being blown by the wind. His neck is jutting forward and his head is looking down at a phone he is holding in his hand. I am looking out the front window of my house and I see a young man, maybe 14, walking down our road.
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