The Paradox of Our Age

Having spent a hour or so talking with my wife about how, 10 years ago we were talking about how television dulls the mind and now we are talking about the internet in the same way and how the next big mechanical soma will turn out to be MP3 players, I picked up my current bed-time reading Satish Kumar's Spiritual Compass, and the next page was a piece by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. I dislike the Dalai Lama's stance on LGBT issues, but otherwise he is usually spot on. I thought I'd share it with you as it is quite profound for the mess that the world is in:

The Paradox of Our Age

We have bigger houses but smaller families;
more conveniences, but less time.
We have more degrees, but less sense;
more knowledge, but less judgement;
more medicines, but less healthiness.
We've been all the way to the Moon and back,
but have trouble crossing the street to meet new neighbours.
We've built more computers to hold more information to produce more copies than ever,
but have less communication.
We have become long on quantity,
but short on quality.
These times are times of fast foods but slow digestion;
tall man but short character;
steep profits but shallow relationships.
It is time when there is much in the window,
but nothing in the room.

His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama