The Atlantic Monthly had an interesting article about information overload. Entitled "Is Google Making Us Stupid?," the article speculates about the effect of having instant (and almost infinite) information available to us with the simple touch of a button (or several if your searches are more than one character long as mine usually are). The conclusions are actually kind of scary. But I'm not going to spoon feed you on this one. Read the article and you'll understand why.
I've become convinced we must find a way to unplug from our diet of technology (again, I'd call your attention to this report from The Onion--it might be humor, but it's pretty close to reality). I've decided to take a technological holiday every week during the Sabbath hours (sundown Friday until sundown Saturday) during which I won't be interacting with any "glowing rectangles."
In response to the noise we are bombarded by on a daily basis, I'd like to offer up the picture that inspired the name of this blog. I recently got permission from Nikki McClure to use this image of one of her works (you can see her work here) and I'm really excited to share it with you.
This picture pretty much sums up what I think this blog is ultimately about: the importance of being materially connected to the wholesome parts of our physical reality. To touch a tree in bloom. To pick a ripe tomato and eat it while sitting in the freshly weeded dirt of your garden. To simply stand in the forest and breathe the air you are sharing with every tree and animal around you.
Cody, I took your advice this week. I meant to last week but couldn't do it. My failure made me realize my reliance on this machine. I had it unplugged 24 hours and it's one of the best days I've had in a long time. I need to do this more often... Thanks for the challenge!
ReplyDelete