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LIFESTYLE: How Technology Has Relegated Tradition…

Long before modern technology was introduced to the African continent in the late twentieth century, tradition always featured dominantly in our way or life or as many may call it: culture.

Do you remember all those times you would visit your friend’s house to have good conversation or engage in some leisure activity?

How about those days when you had to call that small boy to give a note to the girl you were crushing on but could not visit because of her strict father? Oh yes! That did have a lot of positive effects on character in terms of the instilling of good habits and principles.

How about how grandparents would sit and tell their grandkids folklore at night on the porches and balconies of their homes when the kids went to spend the weekends? The instances are endless so let’s just proceed to the crust of the matter. The introduction of technology comes with several benefits. Unfortunately, it seems that these benefits are also crippling the basic definition of our being in terms of our culture.

Communication

The mobile phone has made it possible for us to communicate with loved ones who are far away. We all love the late night calls in our beds to that special person and those text messages that we can send, don’t we?

However, how about when people begin to believe that the cell phone can replace actual human interaction? People are always tapping away on phones when their friends live probably four houses away. Now, prospective couples hardly spend time together physically since there is the social media; facebook, skype etc.

Entertainment

I have a friend who can play that FIFA game for six hours straight. What happened to the ludo, oware, ampe, pilolo, dam3 etc? I don’t remember the last time I saw anyone playing oware.

We have replaced it all with some sorts of foreign material. Don’t get me wrong; I’m not saying that these foreign games are bad. I’m just worried with the way we seem to have abandoned our local entertainment forms totally for the foreign ones.

Marriage

Imagine my surprise when I heard that one of my old schoolmates had done a Skype traditional marriage because the man was not in the country. Seriously? Is that how modern technology is going to affect our cultural practices?

So, apparently the girl wore her traditional attire in Ghana and sat in front of her webcam with her family and the guy’s family while the guy, also dressed in his kente, sat in front of his computer in the UK.

Now, why were they in such a hurry that they had to do this on Skype. I wonder if they didn’t have network problems too.

I am hopelessly romantic so this particular style is out of the question for me. In fact, this does not agree with my understanding of what a traditional marriage is supposed to entail.

I can understand if this was used for an introduction ceremony but a traditional marriage which is serious is totally out of the question. The marriage is a traditional one, not a technological one. Isn’t this going to have a negative impact on our generation if people adopt this style?

So the question I keep asking myself and hope our cherished GhanaCelebrities.Com readers can answer for me is this;

How do we keep our cultural identity and pass on our traditions and practices to future generations in this technological age?



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4 thoughts on “LIFESTYLE: How Technology Has Relegated Tradition…”

  1. First, I would like to congratulate and encourage your website to put up more of such educating pieces. It defines your maturity against all odds and seeks the well-being of Ghanaians.
    However, some of us played oware in the sand, that’s creating holes with our figures and picking all sort of germs. the least about alikoto the better. Equally this late night story telling caused a lot of vulnerable children to get infected with malaria.
    All this not withstanding, we need the technology but because we are not producing it we are forced to accept technologies from other places where their culture has been integrated into.
    Take our very own Azonto, it is said to have come from Palogo dance.
    If we grow and nurture our own technology, it would definitely have our culture and practices behind it .

    Reply
  2. Well GC I have to say I’m a technology freak and each time something new comes out I have to get it no matter how much it cost I play FIFA on my iPad almost everyday at work at home etc accept when I’m driving or so, at this moment I own a blackberry 9900 for those stingy people that always give miss calls so I communicate with them over there I got a Samsung galaxy 3 which is a marvalous phone which I use for my private life only important people can call me on than I got my iPad 2 latest because there is no such thjng as ipad 3 which allot of people are getting comfused with and iPhone 5 I use my iPhone 5 for browsing etc which I got most important. Website logged on so with one click and I will be where I want to be well you stated that your friends plays allot of FIFA at least 6 hours a day did you know that you can download ludo, oware, ampe, pilolo, dam3 etc and play it on the iOS 

    Reply
    • @Fanteni Ahufe,well first of all there was no question directed to me secondly I was jut replying based on 
      What the writer wrote and that I am a electronic geek incase you did not take your time to read my comment than go back and read it again cause I got a feeling you did not understood what I wrote there and if I state what I have 
      Is that a crime than? Or are you about to tell me that I’m showing off 

      Reply

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