"You can out-achieve most of the population by just, like, leaving your house." That's so tragically sad/funny at the same time I don't know what to do with it. Except leave the house. But I do have to say that the opportunity to read well-articulated, thoughtful ideas from others, and the engage in conversation about them each day is something I celebrate about this uber-weird domain of digital progress.
I definitely agree. Tons of positives come from that uber-weird domain - such as our friendship - and navigating the trade-offs and how to healthily integrate them into daily life without getting sucked all the way in is a question I keep coming back to, over and over.
The "how to" seems to require the same skills we need in all of life, attention management, discipline, discrimination, and the good company of others we trust to sort it all out with.
I was sitting next to a companion the other day and he whipped out a flip phone. I have never been more jealous of his brain which must be so much less inundated than mine. Maybe I am among a minority but I hope that smart phones, like cigarettes fade away until their presence is pungent and unwelcome in buildings.
I’ve been so tempted to upgrade to a flip phone but then I immediately realize how dependent I am on my iPhone... how will I navigate? Calculate? Listen to music? What if I need a flashlight? How will I board planes and find trains!? A flip phone would demand a slower pace of life but would require you to change so much of how you currently operate. Feasible, yes. But challenging.
Totally relate. I pre-ordered something called a Wisephone that is essentially a jailbroken Android phone where they've redesigned the interface and removed the browser. It has navigation, music, a calculator, etc. Solves a lot of the problems you mentioned, which I also turn over in my head all the time, but doesn't solve the others you mentioned - planes, trains, boarding passes, all that. You're absolutely right - would require changing a ton of day to day operation, which feels daunting.
Just took a look at the phone... this is interesting. I’m gonna think on it. Might be a very good thing to have at home. Can always pull the iPhone back out if going on a trip.
Information diarrhea and the digital age is just the modern version of self involvement; of an individual's lack of ability to seize the present. In the stage play "Auntie Mame ", which is set in the 1920's, one of the famous lines is...."Life is a banquet, yet most people are starving to death". Don't get mired in the muck.
"You can out-achieve most of the population by just, like, leaving your house." That's so tragically sad/funny at the same time I don't know what to do with it. Except leave the house. But I do have to say that the opportunity to read well-articulated, thoughtful ideas from others, and the engage in conversation about them each day is something I celebrate about this uber-weird domain of digital progress.
I definitely agree. Tons of positives come from that uber-weird domain - such as our friendship - and navigating the trade-offs and how to healthily integrate them into daily life without getting sucked all the way in is a question I keep coming back to, over and over.
The "how to" seems to require the same skills we need in all of life, attention management, discipline, discrimination, and the good company of others we trust to sort it all out with.
I was sitting next to a companion the other day and he whipped out a flip phone. I have never been more jealous of his brain which must be so much less inundated than mine. Maybe I am among a minority but I hope that smart phones, like cigarettes fade away until their presence is pungent and unwelcome in buildings.
Love this, Alex!
I’ve been so tempted to upgrade to a flip phone but then I immediately realize how dependent I am on my iPhone... how will I navigate? Calculate? Listen to music? What if I need a flashlight? How will I board planes and find trains!? A flip phone would demand a slower pace of life but would require you to change so much of how you currently operate. Feasible, yes. But challenging.
Totally relate. I pre-ordered something called a Wisephone that is essentially a jailbroken Android phone where they've redesigned the interface and removed the browser. It has navigation, music, a calculator, etc. Solves a lot of the problems you mentioned, which I also turn over in my head all the time, but doesn't solve the others you mentioned - planes, trains, boarding passes, all that. You're absolutely right - would require changing a ton of day to day operation, which feels daunting.
Just took a look at the phone... this is interesting. I’m gonna think on it. Might be a very good thing to have at home. Can always pull the iPhone back out if going on a trip.
Amen!
Information diarrhea and the digital age is just the modern version of self involvement; of an individual's lack of ability to seize the present. In the stage play "Auntie Mame ", which is set in the 1920's, one of the famous lines is...."Life is a banquet, yet most people are starving to death". Don't get mired in the muck.
Yeah, I think that's largely accurate. Great quote too.