Professors certainly wish that one of their assignments given to students would become life-changing. For Professor Gans-Boriskin’s Media Messages and Society class, this was at least the case for me.
The assignment for Comm 124 was simple: “Students will be required to ‘unplug’ from electronic mass media as well as all forms of mediated technology for a 24-hour period (no computers, iPods, cell phones, radio, and television) and reflect upon the place of media in their life.”
Initially this seems scary. Sure we can all live without Instagram, but how would we do our homework? How will we look up directions to get to our new job interview?
Not having the option to do any of administrative-type things for a day, however, was actually beautifully freeing.
If we would give ourselves the chance to see the world without our technology, we would be much less afraid of it. We would actually find a lot of things we are missing. The overuse of technology is happening in part because we can’t differentiate between its necessary and unnecessary uses.
Living in a society structured around technology, we are obligated to take a part in it. This is the case, however, even for things that aren’t easier. I’d rather stamp one envelope than navigate the jury duty website for instance.
As a writer aspiring to be published someday, I was once worried by the many quotes telling how good writers must be ravenous readers first. Now I understand I really don’t have to force myself to read. I love to read. I just have to set my phone down and turn off the TV first.
There is probably something in your life like this. There is something you think you don’t have time for. This may simply be because you don’t realize the time your technology is taking away in small increments throughout the day.
Spare time without a phone also frees up your thoughts. It may actually be a bit concerning knowing how many thoughts are tied up to begin with. Emotions are sure to come tumbling in that you didn’t know you had.
It occurs to me that the job of the media and technology, perhaps as a by-product of making our lives supposedly easier, is to stuff our heads with sugarcoated thoughts so we don’t have to think our own unpleasant ones. We never have to feel what it is to be alone. It takes away the anxiety of the human condition. The less scary thing is: throughout the day I felt those things, really felt them. And they passed.
While phones and computers are distracting us from the woes of the human condition, they are also keeping us from experiencing the positive aspects of it, leaving room for happy memories to pop into awareness for instance. Even just looking out windows and just letting our minds wander can underestimate.
Part of the problem is that it’s hard to draw the line between the necessary and unnecessary usage of technology. It’s hard to control both, and what is often needed bleeds into the unnecessary to make it required. Checking email turns into checking Instagram. Checking Instagram turns into twenty minutes of scrolling while half listening to the conversations around us.
Many of us have adapted so much to the new uses of technology that we’d find it very difficult to go back to the old way of life… even if we use to live in it. We are also paying a lot of money to us our phones on a monthly basis. We don’t want to be paying for nothing.
But what is so horrible about only using the pieces of technology that truly make our lives easier? Or at least significantly less? Half the challenge is knowing the difference between them of course.
While reading this you may be thinking this wouldn’t work for you. Maybe you, unlike I was, are not too attached to your phone. Regardless I challenge you to try a 24-hours free of technology involving media for yourself… or at least a long period of time where you only use technology for school and to let your parents know you’re alive. Then you will see for yourself not only what technology is adding to your life, but also what it is taking away.
Technology at times seems like a contract made with dark magic. It’s as if mankind found gremlins to keep in our pockets and made a deal with them. Man gets to talk to everyone else’s gremlins, and have the answer to our every question. The gremlins would also provide endless entertainment. But in return we must use them nearly all the time, and will feel extremely uneasy when trying to be without them. I believe in cheating fate as much as possible. In this rare instance we can take the good of these gremlins and not having actually signed a contract, none of the bad.
Trust me it is possible. I did this assignment a week ago, and still believe in what I thought initially. I haven’t gone back to using Netflix, Pinterest, or Instagram. These used to be frequent go-tos for me. One day I will use them again, or course. I just want to keep this magical spell for as long as possible— the spell of getting to use technology without it using me.
