The great and positive influence of computers and the Internet

Just as the article about the great and positive influence of public libraries was inspired by a quotation from Terry Pratchet, this article was inspired by something that the writer Sylvia Engdahl says in her online autobiography, which can be found here. 

Where Terry Pratchett paid tribute to public libraries, Sylvia Engdahl mentions the great and positive difference that computers and the Internet have made to her life. 

I have covered the debt that I owe to public libraries; now it is time to do the same for some other major positive influences in my life. I have a tribute of my own to pay to computers and the Internet. 

Computers as saviours
From Sylvia Engdahl's inspiring autobiography:

“...I still have my desktop computer, with which I spent most of my time anyway, and my laptop, which I use when lying down. And I still have access to the Internet. So I’m in as close touch with the world as I ever was. That is the miracle of computer technology—no one today need be isolated, regardless of physical disability. Computers have been my salvation from youth, when by chance I was hired as a programmer, until old age, when without them my productive life would end.”

Just like Sylvia Engdahl, I was once a programmer by profession. 

I too have always thought of this as my salvation: I still hate to think of what might have become of me if I hadn't managed 'by chance' to get into the world of IT. Programming gave me the opportunity to do some of the things that I do best; it improved my mental abilities and gave me some transferable skills; it gave me more self-respect, a decent income and a home of my own.

There is more to say about this, but for now I want to concentrate on what computers and the Internet can do for people who are housebound for whatever reason. I have had first-hand experience of this because of the restrictions caused by COVID-19.

Unseen influences: synchronicity, coincidences and timing

Many of the strange incidents described in other articles were very unpleasant and painful to experience. There is another side to the story: I experienced some interesting and amusing unusual incidents too, many of them during a phase in my life when I had started to wake up, defend myself and investigate the metaphysical world. 

This article contains a miscellaneous assortment of such incidents. I am not sure of their significance, although they do provide supporting evidence for the theory that our thoughts may influence reality. 

Some of these incidents gave me an opportunity to take a closer look at something that I had seen on TV or read about, reacted to and spontaneously wished that I could see more of; other things that I had just been thinking about and dwelling on without wishing that I could see them also manifested in my life. 

The milkman, the archbishop and the Liverpool Spinners
One fine summer’s day many years ago, I decided to go to the Harrods sale. I wanted to get there early to avoid the crowds, but needed to stay at home until my milk was delivered: it would turn sour very quickly if I left it standing outside my door in the heat. I did not expect to wait long, as the milkman always came very early on Saturdays in the summer. I did not know that my regular milkman was on holiday; the temporary man was late because he was not familiar with the route.