Retreating From Technology

As I was driving to work earlier this week I heard a story on NPR to which I related very well. The story was an interview with writer William Powers about his new book called Hamlet's BlackBerry: A Practical Philosophy for Building a Good Life in the Digital Age. The book is based on a essay the author penned in 2007. The author looks at the present day and back in history to demonstrate how previous generations and eras also felt overwhelmed by the amount of communication they were encountering. If you want to hear the NPR story or read an excerpt of the book click here. You can see a nearly 30 min. interview by Katie Couric with the author here. If you would like read the original essay please try this link. Buy the book here.

While thinking about this story this morning, I recalled memories about my travels for student council events in high school. For example, in July 1989, I attended my first IASC Summer Workshop as a delegate.  A friend and I from high school drove up to Millikin University in Decatur, IL to attend the workshop.  After we arrived and settled in to our rooms I used the pay phone in the basement of the Richards-Treat University Center to call my parents back home. This was the only way to communicate with my parents to advise them that I had arrived safely at my destination and give them a way to reach me in case of an emergency.  The only other thing I could have done was send them a postcard or letter (when did they shut off personal telegraph service?).  I still remember standing at that pay phone and looking at the map that was hung next to the phone.  College students could leave a message for other students about sharing a ride back home if they lived in the same area or along the same intended route. Another old form of communication: the bulletin board.

A couple of years later when I attended the 1991 NASC National Conference in South Carolina I called my parents at one point to check in and found out that my grandfather had just had a mild heart attack and that my dad had found a deal on a 1968 Chevrolet Camaro convertible that I had wanted so badly. Would I have really wanted to get this type of news in an e-mail or a text message?

Today, we have many ways to communicate with our families, friends, co-workers, and friends we haven't seen or even spoken to in years. Besides the traditional letter, postcard or phone we are now able to communicate with others via cell phone, e-mail, text message, Facebook, Twitter, instant messenger, and a blog. Last year, I even spoke to a former IASC State President via Skype. I was in St. Louis and he was in Egypt at the time.  Obviously the lynchpin of this communication is the internet.  We have multiple accounts to check and spend longer looking at the computers or our phones.  For example, I have a personal e-mail account, a work account, and since I am a contractor/vendor for another company I have an account on their system as well. The problem is that we get overloaded with all of this communication and the messages become white noise.  During a flood of messages we might miss a message that was more important than many of the others combined. 

There are several times throughout the year when I want to remove myself from all forms of communication and go off the grid. I long for those 'old' days driving around in my Camaro when no one could reach me if they wanted to and I could just talk with that person the next time I saw them or caught up with them when I called later. Recently, I ordered a smart phone to replace the phone that I have currently.  I am already wondering how this will change the way I communicate with others. Will I want to throw the phone out the window at times? Better yet, if I feel that way I should probably just leave the device at home.

We need time to ourselves, time to decompress, time to think and ponder concepts, or time to create and design.  These are the times where we need a vacation or a retreat to regroup and focus on the tasks that are most important rather than getting bogged down in the minute details.  In this spirit we would like to create a workshop to help the IASC Alumni refocus on the skills you learned in student council and build upon those skills with updated concepts. The plan is to have the first of these workshops this upcoming Fall or Winter with more to come on a regular basis in the future.  More details will be surfacing in the upcoming months. Your comment and suggestions are welcome!
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Post Script - This sentiment of getting off the grid reminds me of the chorus of an old John Prine song called "Spanish Pipedream" from his self titled first album.  Further, if you're a little younger you might remember "Raining In Baltimore" by the Counting Crows where the protagonist misses his loved one and needs a phone call - a text message or e-mail would be too impersonal.  If you don't know these songs look them up on the internet go to your local brick and mortar record store (if there's one left around you) and buy the albums. You won't regret it!  Good music doesn't go out of style!