Disclaimer – The title of this post does not refer to making
a decision about what to do, or not to do, about my hairline.
My attempts to plug into the web this past weekend
were thwarted in two ways:
1.
18,000,000,000 inches of snow (sorry if I rounded down too much)
2.
Internet/Cell service that was so slow and intermittent it made dial up look
like Usain Bolt at the Summer Olympics
After sweating throught the initial DT’s due to not being able to
listen to any podcasts while shoveling, I started to really enjoy being
unplugged. I pretty much soak in some form of media for the better part of
every day of my life. Music, podcasts, web, print, smart phone and so on. As much as i like it I wonder if it's really a good thing. Forget sunscreen, someone needs to invent MediaScreen. I would pick up some
SPF 120 minutes and that way I could browse the web for a couple of hours and afterwards just go to
sleep instead of having my brain race around jumping from thought to thought.
I find myself craving media. Looking forward to that semi-zoned
out state of mind where time tends to slide away. Music and the web tend
to be a particularly potent cocktail. These days after the kids are asleep I
head downstairs with my laptop (craptop as I not so affectionately call it), sign into Chrome, open Gmail, open my Google Drive, sign into Diigo, open the
class syllabus, go to the Integrating Technology blog, open my blog, open
Google Reader, open a word doc where I can pre-type and fall into the interweb.
An idea pops in my mind? I open a new tab and down the rabbit hole I go. A
question comes up? Goodbye 20 minutes!
This is one of those times where I don’t need to go to the
web (there I go again) and see if there is a study where researchers have
found that the human body releases a chemical, or that the brain behaves in a
way, that mimics some kind of drug when someone is surfing the web.
And it’s not just the internet, it’s the devices themselves. I see it when my wife an I have our faces buried in our phone while we are sitting on the same couch. I see it in my kids when they’re playing with the iPad with that deer in the
headlights look, not responding as I yell their name through a bullhorn. I
guess it’s great that they‘ll know their numbers and letters before
preschool but I’m not so sure when they are miserable for an hour after it's been taken it away. What's next? Are they going to start taking old stereo’s and TV’s
to the local Pawn Shop to scrape together enough dough to buy a used
iPad and get their fix? And hey, I didn't have an iPad and I learned my letters and
number easily by the fourth grade.
I remember when social networking really started to take off
and there was this debate about the value and authenticity of digital
relationships and connections. One side proclaimed it as the future and
superior to anything we had previously known while the detractors lamented the end of true human interaction. As
usual it seems like the extreme arguments were just that – extreme arguments
dressed up in slippery slope logic adorned with “protecting the children” or
“don’t be a luddite” language, neither of which unsurprisingly ended up not reflecting
reality to a great degree. I go back and forth as to which side I lean a little
more towards and I think that like anything in life there has to be some
balance with a dollop of moderation mixed in.
On the one hand as a result of the storm I had actual human
interactions and conversations (live! real time!) with people that I would not
have had otherwise. Whatever it is about adversity or tragedy that brings
people together had me helping neighbors and being helped by them. Starting conversations
with strangers I would have not otherwise started.
On the other hand social media positively impacted people’s recovery
efforts. One site, SeeClickFix, allows users to report things that need to be fixed facilitating volunteers and local governments to pitch in and help. After Winter Storm Nemo the local New Haven community pitched in to help each other out in an effective and targeted way. Sounds like there's room at the table for both.
Happy early Valentine's Day:
