sun is high

What’s It Like…To Be Back?

This blog has been largely dormant since the beginning of the year. Lately I have been rethinking my approach to the Internet and technology as a whole, and finding it to be more and more just a giant waste of time in many ways. Not to say blogging is a complete waste of time, but in terms of long term purpose, it really does not offer much. (I have yet to find a topic I would like to write a book about…ha ha.)

Don’t get me wrong, the internet still is a part of my day to day, and I certainly use it to keep up with news, etc. but I am becoming quickly persuaded that there are better things I can be doing with my time. And when I say internet, I should clarify that by saying surfing the web, Facebook, or just generally farting around, rather than other communication applications, such as Skype and email. I read an article recently that came out in 2008 that solidified a lot of what I have been thinking for awhile about our technology overload. Is Google Making Us Stupid? by Nicolas Carr. I do find that I have more ADD tendencies than I ever did when I was younger. I attribute a lot of that to the disjointed way information has come to be delivered. Everything has been reduced to the bite size and the immediate. There are obviously benefits associated with this, since you can get information quickly, however it does seem to reduce the ability to concentrate on one thing for an extended period of time.

I purposefully watch TV less and less with each passing year, mostly because I just do not find most of what’s on that appealing, and it uses up a lot of time. I try to force myself to read when I can, which does do wonders for quieting my mind. (That and exercise.)

Carr has a new book out called “The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains” that I recently picked up. I am not very far into it, but so far I can say, it is probably worth reading, if only for the sake of holding a mirror up to yourself and considering if the time spent using technology is worth what it has cost to your ability to think deeply and concentrate, or just do other things with your time that would benefit you more. I can’t say I buy into his whole theory of it rewiring our brains, but I do think he has a point in that habits with technology transcend to other areas of life.

I also can’t say I have any answers yet, other than to work to keep things in moderation, so as not to allow technology to become the dictator.