Random Notes from a Crank

If you're aware of Sherry Turkle's work or know about her through her appearances on various talk shows, you might find "The Eavesdropper" by Megan Garber worthy of a quick read. Turkle is working on a follow-up book after Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other. The new book is tentatively titled Reclaiming Conversation. As she says at the end of Garber's article, "Everybody's talking. And nobody's talking about anything except what's on the machines." "The Flight from Conversation" is a good read too, one that appears to be a preview of her new book. 

One of the books I'm currently reading is The Art of the Commonplace, which is a collection of essays from Wendell Berry. It'll be good to revisit a bunch of essays I read years ago, some of them probably been a decade or so. 

If you like good defense, the Super Bowl was fun to watch if you were rooting for the Seahawks. The Nasty family backed the Ospreys because Seattle has two former Tide players (James Carpenter and Jesse Williams) on its squad. Also, Mrs. Nasty loves those uniforms. 

As newfangled uniforms go, I'd have to agree with her. But it's hard to beat the college uniforms of Alabama (home and away), Penn State (home), USC (home), LSU, Iowa, Ole Miss, and Michigan (home). 

As for the NFL teams, I've always been fond of the uniforms of the Vikings, Packers, Colts (classic look), and the old-school Jets.  

The Plight of the Connected

As many of my readers might know or might have noticed, I work in higher education. I'm around 18-2osome-year-olds every day. Well, not every day now since this week is finals, but you get the drift: I have contact with the "next generation" of America on a cyclical basis. 

And I'm tired of seeing them so fucking connected. 

Last week I was walking down the hall in the academic building I work in. It was right before the 8:00 a.m. class, and I walked right by a classroom with college students waiting for their instructor to open up it for class.

There were probably at least a dozen students waiting there. Every single one of them was looking at their damn smart phones -- texting, surfing, checking out statuses, whatever. 

It's not that I hate smart phones. I don't. Mrs. Nasty has an iPhone, and she uses it all the time to help us out -- looking up stuff, getting directions, etc. 

However, the plight of the connected is that they're constantly tied to and looking at their phones at the expense of other endeavors. 

Take the example I used above -- and it's a real-life one, not a hypothetical. It's close to 8 a.m. in the morning, and they're looking at their phones. Even at that time of the morning, I have better suggestions for college students' time as they wait in the hallway: daydreaming, "resting their eyes," chatting with a classmate, reviewing notes, flirting with someone, rereading material because there might be a quiz, checking out someone's ass, et al.

But no, they're tied to their phones, like the devices are electronic newborns/kids that always have to be checked on, cradled, and helicoptered. 

Meanwhile back in the other tactile world, less face-to-face conversation is happening. 

I, like some others, agree with the solution Sherry Turkle relates at the end of "The Flight from Conversation": "look up, look at one another, and let’s start the conversation."

Her argument and what she relates in her book reminds me of Robert Putnam's points in Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. 

Yes, technology can help community-building initiatives and spur civic engagement. I think that's hard to deny, and I know people could trot out copious examples of how online systems and smart phones have aided and abetted good (and bad) things happening for a community and for individuals. 

However, I am troubled by people being so tied to their phones that they don't notice what's around them, whether it's people, birds, trees, their own reflections, and other aspects of the "environment."

Look up and notice what's happening around you. 

Or just think about something -- reflect and ponder -- instead of being hyper-connected to your phones. Practice mindfulness. 

Wake up from your technological blinders.