In the summer of
2013, I lived in a cabin with no cell reception and no internet. This allowed
me, for the first time in my adult life, to escape the constant bombardment of
digital media. I learned to be alone and connected more strongly with myself.
Five years later and I have reentered the digital world. Sherry Turkle’s
Ted Talk, Connected, but alone,
reminded me of the power of disconnecting. It made me pine for the days of the
flip phone, where cell phones were used as tools and not as notification-buzzing
interruption machines.
As a proud flip phone owner I must say we are on the same page. I don't think many people (especially those with cellphones surgically attached to their fingers) understand the importance of face to face communications. Developing the ability to read facial cues is one of the building blocks of empathy. Even listening to the tone of someone's voice on the phone offers more of a chance at real connection than reading text (is it ironic that I am typing all this in a blog?) You also spoke of the summer you spent in the cabin, this type of voluntary solitude has been seen since the dawn of time as a method to connect with Earth and allow the Earth to connect with you. One cannot truly feel the breeze on the back of your neck, the sun on your shoulders, or gentleness of wet grass on your bare feet if your spirit is distracted by answering a text message.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment Michael! It's easy to get lost in the digital world and I think people are right to be concerned. I feel like our society has jumped into using a new tool without knowing how to actually use it. Steve Jobs didn't let his kids use iPads and now some psychologists are calling it the "third parent" -- definitely scary stuff! The danger isn't in the technology itself but how people seem to be using it. The more addictive the designs become, the harder they will be to resist. It'll be interesting to see where our society takes this over the next few years.
DeleteThanks for sharing Tess, and I couldn't agree more! It would be great practice for all of us to unplug and connect with our physical environments, especially for us lucky enough to live on this beautiful island. You bring up a great point of phones having lost their functionality for phoning people; even the personal touch of calling someone is getting lost now that our tool of the cellphone can give us 99 other ways of communicating.
ReplyDeleteIt's weird, right? I've gotten to the point that when people actually call me on my phone I wonder why they're calling (which is way too ironic considering that that's the whole original point...) and not texting.
DeleteI live for those getaways without phone service and wifi! My partner and I went to Point No Point and all we did was eat food and play board games. It made me crave that true social connection that used to be so natural and normal. Hopefully in the future we'll all crave it and see our cell phones/social media as an option to check, not the priority it has become.
ReplyDeleteThe social connection is so important but we lose it so often by opting out of it and looking at our devices instead. I definitely hope for the same thing!
DeleteI have had a similar experience in New Zealand when my cousins and I stayed in a little middle-of-nowhere town called Tapu. Even though it is very common for phone booths to double as wi-fi booths, I didn't have the network carrier to connect. That disconnect took me back to my childhood too (though I'm sure the bunk-beds helped!)
ReplyDeleteAt the same time, my parents didn't let me have a phone until flip-phones were on the way out, but, still, I remember wanting one bad. Though, compared to today's technology, it is nearly impossible to imagine what I would have done with a phone if I'd gotten one. There is only so much Snake you can play!
To be fair, at least Snake wasn't half as addictive as all of the games available today!
DeleteIt's interesting that everyone finds those experiences so enriching and valuable, and yet we all still use our phones in our regular lives. It's a special occasion when we get to "escape" our phones, which is kind of freaky, isn't it?