Day 3 of TED2012.

11.53am:

Sherry Turkle up now with a profoundly interesting but disturbing talk. She’s one of the most influential theorists of the online world, whose 1996 book Life on the Screen: Identity in the Age of the Internet put her onto the cover of Wired magazine.

“I’m still excited about technology,” she says. “But my new book isn’t going to put me on the cover of Wired magazine.”

The devices in our pockets, she says, are removing us from our own lives. Are impacting upon our most meaningful relationships. And actually changing who we are.

As a psychologist, she studies people’s relationships with technology, how people will now text in board meetings, in classrooms, while having breakfast with their children. “Even at funerals, I’ve studied people texting. They are taking themselves out of their grief and into their phones.”

“Human relationships are rich and they’re messy and they’re demanding. And we clean them up with technology. We sacrifice conversation for mere connection.”

Technology appeals to us where we’re most vulnerable, says Turkle. “It gives us the illusion of companionship without the means of friendship.

“It feeds the fantasy that we will always be heard, and we will never be alone.”

Couldn’t agree more. Ever had a lover text over your shoulder whilst in a clinch? I haven’t. Yet.

After the body work: tai chi, 4 directions, dance? What do we call it? We went on our own to sit under a tree. When we came together in the A-frame the combined picture that was drawn was so beautiful that I wanted to share it with you all. Minutes of the meeting so to speak, just to let you know where we are.

We sat under Masasas and Figs and Mukwa and trees with no name
we saw their wounding; nails in the bark, swellings from insects eating their trunks from the inside
we saw their dying: The Mukwa (Nyamaropa)
the tree that stood proudly on the hill 32 years ago
the medicine tree that was visited by nyangas – who stripped off squares of her bark
now old and tired – surrounded by strong new trees competing for light and space
and the grace of her slow fading – the first dead branches filled with life of another kind.

We saw how they accommodated to spaces in the canopy
a dance of cooperative creative patterning
We saw them with gratitude
with hearts wide open
these magical cycling systems
moving water and air and light.

We felt their prickly rough bark
surprised at its soothing gentle touch.
We saw the immense height of the towering gum
roots firmly, widely rooted in foreign soil
at home in this forest of African trees

We saw our child hood:
the trees we had climbed, the fruit we had eaten
the books we will write for the new children
the woodlands we will grow for them to play

And there was a strange reaffirming of an ancient knowing
we were connected, if just for a short time,
to the healers of the earth.

I don’t trust Gideon Gono with my money. I lived through enough of his quasi-fiscal policies not to trust him at the helm of the Reserve Bank. My other thinks I protest too much, but I will not open a bank account until he is removed from office. Why should I trust a man who authored a book titled “Casino Economy” whilst in the midst of playing Russian roulette with the nation’s livelihoods?

I’m no fan of former Gono Advisor Munyaradzi Kereke either. Given that he was a senior Reserve Bank official during that chaotic decade he is just as culpable. Kereke also allegedly raped his 11 year old niece.  The Harare rumour mill purports that the rape was for ritual purposes, not that it has helped him in his present predicament.  Rape of a minor is an egregious offence, more so at gunpoint. It is curious that despite evidence and charges being filed on behalf of the minor, the police and Attorney General have apparently refused to investigate and prosecute.

Once thick as thieves, it seems that Gono and Kereke have had a falling out, one which the local media, both private and public refuse to give coverage. Curious, considering the nature and scope of allegations made by both parties against each other.  Kereke’s most recent letter, published in the Zimbabwe Mail reveals that Gono was willing to betray his paymasters. This is not anything new – the Wiki Leak cables concerning him revealed as much. Kereke also alleges that Gono has the Anti-Corruption Commission in his pocket, closed banks on a whim, violated the State Secrets Act, looted tens of millions of Public Funds and authored draft legislation that, if passed, would spin Zimbabwe into a civil war.

Kereke appears to be the underdog in this fight. Gono, despite the numerous rumours and allegations that surround him, clearly must have some influence. Whether it is enough to silence Kereke remains to be seen. It makes for interesting reading and speculation, like something out of a novel about an imaginary African state governed by the power hungry who employ witchcraft, sex, lies and betrayal to further their goals. If it were my story to write I would have a third major, but shadowy character, the seemingly benevolent but actually ruthless leader. The Leader would be the puppet master who would watch this drama unfold, and protect both just enough to make the fight between them fair, ensuring that each causes the destruction of the other.

I interviewed tech-entrepreneur Tatenda Furusa yesterday. Having just returned from the United States and established his own venture, Mealie Media, here in Zimbabwe, I asked him what advice he’d give Zimbabweans who are looking to come back and do the same:

First research and homework. Do your online research, read news articles as much as you can, check Kubatana or whatever journals of whichever sector you’re in. Call people back home, who are there and ask them what’s going on for raw feedback and the truth. Ask them what they would do if they had fifty thousand dollars. Thirdly, take time off and take a trip here. Don’t come here for two weeks, or during December and January because it’s just a bubble. Come through in August and September, in the last quarter of Zimbabwe’s financial year when it’s a little difficult to find money. Come back for a month, visit people, speak to people, and learn about what’s going on. By that point you’ll know if the pros outweigh the cons. It’s a place where you’ll definitely need a pool of funds, anything starting from I think, $5000 upwards. Capital that allows you to do your work freely and quickly is very important. Make sure or try your best to get a joint venture partnership on your trip here, if you can work with someone who’s been here for ten plus years or who’s been here and never left. Or if you’re going to start the business on your own give yourself a year to eighteen months.

Writing and reading decrease our sense of isolation. They deepen and widen and expand our sense of life; they feed the soul. When writers make us shake our heads with the exactness of their prose and their truths, and even make us laugh about ourselves or life, our buoyancy is restored. We are given a shot at dancing with, or at least clapping along with, the absurdity of life, instead of being squashed by it over and over again. It’s like singing on a boat during a terrible storm at sea. You can’t stop the raging storm, but singing can change the hearts and spirits of the people who are together on that ship. – Anne Lamott

A Herald editorial in the run-up to the 1990 Zimbabwean elections is pretty telling when the 2012 buzz is that 88-year old President Mugabe (who is 5 years younger than Nelson Mandela) will again fight it out in the coming polls. In the Herald of 14 March 1990, the editorial titled “Punishing Campaign for a man of action,” wrote that: “at 66 and assured of victory in the…general and presidential election one would have expected President Mugabe to slow down a little and spare a thought for his personal health.” Calling him a “sober workaholic whose track record is as impressive as that of the party itself,” the editorial continued: “only the dim-witted would expect anyone to effectively challenge Cde Mugabe.”

And that my friend was in 1990. Go figure.