As we become more computer dependent, there is an emerging argument that we are fast becoming intellectual mutants. Does increased screen time equate directly to a devolving humanity?
A few nights ago, our family saw an interesting and frightening CBC documentary entitled “Are We Digital Dummies?” This is worth every minute of your time!
As we cope with our wired world, we’re at the point that we must begin probing whether we can think for ourselves and socially interact? Are we all fast becoming “Google-stupid”?
Herbert Simon, Nobel Prize winning economist, wrote: “What information consumes is rather obvious. It consumes the attention of its recipients. Hence a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention.” And for those who believe that information is power, Albert Einstein warned: “Information is not knowledge.”
The documentary and these learned reflections took me back to a previously written article that was first published in the By George Treasury. In this excerpt, we make a few suggestions for dealing with our modern day info-glut.
It is the amount of data that a person is expected to absorb that is scary. Consider that a daily edition of the N.Y. Times contains as much information as the average 17th century person would have come across in an entire lifetime. At our workplace, the average corporate worker receives 191 messages – 51 phone calls, 39 e-mails, 16 internal memos, and 20 items of outside mail.
The amount, and pace are becoming unbelievable. We offer some hints on how you might avoid receiving so much… and give yourself some healthy ‘headspace.’
- Find a place of your own and sit and close your eyes for five – fifteen minutes, in the morning, noon and night.
- Don’t take work or work related materials to bed with you.
- Don’t take reading materials – or your blackberry or iPad – to the washroom (this could be your five – fifteen minute mental break).
- At home, turn the TV – and all screens – off at least two hours at night.
- Travel to work with the radio/i-pod off at least half your travel time.
- At work, schedule time when you will concentrate on a single screen and not answer phones or e-mails.
So, do you need to find a road to recovery? Step one to a better life-computer balance is recognizing the threats of your daily routines. Begin by watching “Are We Digital Dummies?” Step two would be to unplug for one evening and think this through for yourself.
(ed. – This is a repost, picked as one of our favourite three posts of 2011, taken from the earlier posts on the By George Journal. The original post is found here.)