I’m taking an iPhone break during my 3 day weekend. No iPhone for Friday, Sat, Sun. I found myself reaching for it for no apparent reason to check email or texts and found I was missing out on life happening around me or “multitasking” which means paying attention to a screen while nodding and say “uh huh” to the person I am with. So many of us seem to do this all the time now without a second thought. Day 2 of no iPhone and I feel more relaxed and engaged in the moment.
The impact of screen culture on the human brain merits the same public debate and funding for research as climate change, says one of the world’s most eminent neuroscientists.
As the online world continues to expand, Oxford University’s Baroness Professor Susan Greenfield has warned excessive screen culture may be changing the way our brains are wired….
I just finished reading this book last night and it is a great read! Taking examples from philosophers from the past like Plato, Socrates, and Thoreau the author shows how they dealt with the new technologies of their time and the busyness it created. I was looking for some insight on how to better manage the screens in my life since I am surrounded by them in my work and pulled by their never ending tug in my personal life as well. The main idea is that for the most part we can control how and when we choose to use technology in our lives and he gives great insight on the philosophies of disconnecting and going inward when we desire.
On new technology:
Here’s the thing with this new technology. I think it’s incredibly effective. I just don’t think it’s made anyone much happier. If anything, we are now always connected but we don’t know what we’re connected to. It’s just an endless stream of information.
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— William Powers from his book, Hamlet’s BlackBerry
Pretty provocative site for Vibram Five-Fingers. I love mine and do pretty much everything outdoors in them including running, hiking and biking.
I read this article in print yesterday and ended up ordering 2 books on Amazon (pretty cheap) to learn more about some of the aspects of the article content. One is called “Slow Reading” and the other is “Hamlet’s BlackBerry”. I found the article to be very interesting and highly recommend it. As far as myself and the question above, I’m not sure that the Internet makes me smarter: I certainly feel that I have access to any information I may need, and I feel skilled in knowing how to find information although I am not sure how much depth I retain for the long term in anything I read online. At the same time, I actually perceive information I view electronically on a short-term basis, meaning information I want to delve into deeper I find I want to read in print as it is a more enriching experience that seems to stay with me longer.
I definitely feel that multi-tasking with the gadgets of our day and the Internet make me feel more scattered and cause stress. It is harder to settle into a book or to just look at one thing at a time online as I tend to click all over the place as my mind jumps from idea to idea. When we spend so much of our time online it becomes very hard to stop those patterns when we break free into the analog world - it takes awhile to slow back down to the speed of the natural world when we finally do unplug.
It will be interesting to see how all of this will affect us as a civilization in the future. I do fear that way too many people, kids especially, are spending the majority of their lives online and that there are definite issues resulting from not spending enough time outside and away from all the mental noise. There is a disconnect when we read online about bad things that are happening in our natural world and we don’t have the experiences in the natural world to care in the deep ways that we should be caring. That just may be our downfall.
I just got one of these puzzles(Cast Marble - Level 4) from ThinkGeek and love the feel of it in my hands - not to mention the challenge as it still remains unsolved on my work desk. Below is a section of the Cast Puzzle website that explains the puzzles:
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Firstly, we want everyone feel the ‘cast puzzle’ by the eye and hand, to feel the movement of the geometric puzzle and to feel the metal material and the beauty of it. By this, our right brain is stimulated. In this digital society, it may be a way to entwine our hearts. The solution is not included, and the cast puzzle is just a delicate woman. One time being able to detach, it may not be easy to reset to origin. It is just like to repair a broken relationship. It is not easy. Moreover, though you could solve it now, as time passes, you may forget the method of solving.
We want you to put it by your side. Anytime as you try to solve the cast puzzle, you become pure in mind, and the refreshing impression penetrates the line of the backbone, this pleasant sensation which you do not have before.
Anonymous, uncensored, ad-free alternative.
Think for yourself and figure out what's true. Ask yourself what's true until you know.
I just love this quote! I read it somewhere years (I think) ago and it became glued to me. Hahaha....
Let’s get lost.
