On the basis that one in a thousand people might actually be interested here’s my day. Got up and read the papers. Particularly taken with two stories. The first one was about ambulances being fitted with wider stretchers and lifting equipment because patients are becoming so fat. Second, a story about a four-year-old child that had been killed in a road accident because her father had been blindly following false instructions from his satnav.

Then a visit to Clydesdale Bank in Regent Street. Four tellers but one was reserved for Yorkshire Bank customers, of which there weren’t any. After a five-minute wait I attempted to pay a bill in Australian dollars via electronic transfer. I had the bank name, account name, sort code, SWIFT/IBAN code, or whatever that thing is, but not the bank’s postal address. They couldn’t do it. They needed a postal address to do an electronic transfer. Go figure.

This actually turned out to be good news because if they had been able to do it I would have been required to fill in a 2-page form and it would have taken five workings days. How is it possible for this to take five working days in an era of digitalisation and instant connectivity? (Clue: They are greedy and want to hold on to the money for as long as possible so that they can lend it to someone else).

Fed up. Asked to see the manager. He wasn’t in. Then asked for a list of their bank branches because I wasn’t satisfied with how this branch was being run. “You’re in it sir”. “What do you mean I’m in it…is this the only branch in England?” “Yes”

Gave up. Walked to the Royal Bank of Scotland in Mayfair. This time the bank was experiencing a power cut and couldn’t do anything. Nothing. Not even paperwork. Never mind weapons of mass destruction, all you need to do these days to get Britain on its knees is cut the electricity for half a day.

Then things started to look up. Got an email from Chris at Lucid Futures with some very helpful suggestions about a presentation I’m working on for EDF energy. I must meet up with him because he has some interesting ideas, especially the thought of energy converging with data.

Next a step back in time. A trip to the blacksmith to collect a bit of metal. This is when it hit me. Those people in the bank. The person driving the car. The oversize people in the ambulance. They are all connected by a simple thought. They have all surrendered their lives to technology. They can’t live without it. Sometimes they die because of it. A blind faith in technology that creates learned incompetence.

This might be pushing things too far, but I suspect that in our frantic rush towards the weightless economy we are creating a generation of people without dignity, resilience or purpose. We invent facile degrees that equip people for meaningless jobs, which, after a time, create a deep sense of worthlessness.

OMG, I think I’ve just written my speech for the Future of Social Media in Financial Services event in London next week 😉