Just as diseases keep developing new drug-resistant strains, our portable electronics malady is evolving by the day. I wish I had a nickel for every time I heard statements like, "Oh my God, this is soooo my new Facebook profile-pic!" or "Oh my God, that is totally my new Facebook quote!" Like tourists who come to see the other side of the world through their camera's viewfinder, some people here find it increasingly difficult to find meaning in the present unless it somehow relates to virtual reality.
Of course, it's unrealistic to ask people to give up their phones. But there must be some rules set in place to protect the sanctity of "reality." In my mind, there are two types of cell-phone users: the ones who receive a call saying, "Hey, I'm with someone right now. Can I call you back in 20 minutes?" and then the ones who take the call and put the person who took the time to meet them in person on hold. The second category is in need of a priority adjustment.
Underlying these types of relationships to technology is a deep boredom rampant in our culture and a constant dissatisfaction with the present. But how can it be confronted? I can only give one kernel of wisdom that has helped me. According to a book on Buddhist meditation that I was flipping through, we are constantly forming judgments about everything we see or do, and the result is that we often convince ourselves that we are bored or could be doing something better. The example given was that of doing dishes. Working to be present without judgment or "mental chatter" we shouldn't think "doing the dishes: boring" but simply "doing the dishes: doing the dishes."
The idea that a person should need Facebook or stock market updates available at every moment to survive the day suggests a condition similar to drug addiction. Not too many years from now there will be rehab for the electronics-dependent and the bored. Part of their therapy should be washing dishes or even better, deseeding kumquats.
2008 Woodie Awards
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