Erstellt am: 16. 9. 2011 - 14:45 Uhr
Nerdvana
I woke up this morning to a rather surprising post from one of my brothers in Nerdiness.
Felix Knoke, faced with the imminent demise of his iPhone, was questioning the underlying nature of our high tech dependencies.
He ended up posing a series of questions that I suspect many a gadget freak has faced. "Am I the master of my tools, or have my tools mastered me?"
OK, he didn't phrase it just like that, but that's the way I am going to summarize his standpoint for now. It makes it a bit easier to address some if the issues he has raised.
Technik ist Gewalt über die Natur
Yep. That's true. It could also be said that discipline is mastery of human nature. And it's an important part of keeping ourselves from becoming slave to our technology. The internet and smart phones are just tools. Well, not just any tools, they are more like the ultimate swiss army knives in an information culture. They are also an endless source of entertainment. And that's where things get tricky.
Using a tool requires a certain amount of mastery in order to avoid injury. Mastery in turn requires focus, dedication and determination. Things that can easily be sidetracked by easy access to entertainment. Unfortunately, without a clear vision of what one wants to accomplish, most people will follow the path of least resistance.
That path frequently leads straight to...
... Langeweile, Faulheit und Geiz
or, in middle american english, "Boredom, sloth and stinginess". Sounds like a list of things you might want to avoid, doesn't it. They don't have to be though. Taken as motivating factors they can actually provide a foundation for useful change. Just add focus, dedication and determination.
First things first
In order to turn mind-numbing entertainment devices into finely honed instruments of mass instruction (or any other clever description you might think of) we need to do a little work. That means sitting down and defining a few things. Goals for example. Once some goals have been defined we need to break those goals down into smaller steps and then take a look at just how our shiny devices can be used to get us where we want to be.
Once those basics have been defined it's time to start turning Langeweile, Faulheit and Geiz to our advantage.
Applied to our use of the internet or smart phones that could look something like this:
Boredom
blog.esel.at
The classic smart phone application. Absentmindedly sucking down information in between the important things we should be doing. It's actually one of the reasons I haven't been bored in years. There is always something to look up, surf to, like, or chuckle about. The ability to immediately answer the most inane question that pops into my head is addictive.
Those lost moments on the underground can suddenly be turned into productivity gains when a little bit of focus is applied. Research? Anytime anywhere. Learning? Right now. Cultural development? That's what the Guttenberg project can provide. Put that library in your pocket to good use.
Just decide to limit your lolcat fix to a small portion of your day.
Sloth
I wonder how many of the worlds inventions were developed by people who were too lazy to to a certain job. My first attempts at programming were inspired by my utter lack of interest in doing algebra homework. It killed my test scores, but the hit on my GPA was more than made up for by the extra hours gained every night of my middle school career. Instant access to information mean that I don't have to constantly reinvent the wheel, ad can fall back on the experiences and knowledge other people have gained already.
Being lazy is bad. Learning from other peoples mistakes is good. Use one as motivation to do the other. We literally have a world of experience in our pockets. Make good use of it.
Stinginess
Robert Glashüttner
Being stingy is bad. Being frugal is good. The desire to save money and resources can go either way. Combining that desire with well defined goals and strategies can turn our use of shiny devices from apparent lavishness into the first step toward a spartan lifestyle. That slab in my pocket has replaced boxes full of CD'S, walls full of books, a heavy camera, filing desk, landline, fax, scanner, printer, recorder, TV, radio, DVD player, game console, day planner, notebooks and photo albums. I've spent weeks on the road with nothing more than a carry-on and two tiny toys and I can completely sympathize with all of the folks who are jumping on the bandwagon of extreme minimalism. It can be an amazing rush of freedom and empowerment.
Do something better
If your goals included things like learning new skills, dedicating more time to a hobby or just spending more (or better) time with your social network, do it. Getting lost in the fascination with the tool itself is the problem. Keeping focused one of the answers.
Now excuse me while I go use some social networks to arrange face-time with some people I haven't seen in a while so we can plot our next steps toward changing the world. The internet and technology alone might not be able to do it, but they can make it easier for the people who are willing to try.
And yes, I plan to smell the flowers on the way...