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I sent a version of this gemlog to ~jsreed5 as an email, but I figured it'd work as a gemlog as well, with some additional thoughts. Here's the original email:
I read your post about screen time on Friday and it got me thinking about my own gemini usage and realized I was in the same spot. My spouse, I thought, was the one completely attached to the phone but, like you, I just swapped. I'll say, however, that diving into Gemini for long form posts is much better than the mainstream platforms.
So what I did was leave my phone by my bedside all weekend, only checking it at night. No computer either. It was tough at times but made me realize how many times I looked for my phone. My life wasn't radically different but I never mentally checked-out to the Internet, never had to switch gears back to real life.
As I stated above, my life this past weekend wasn't radically different, but it was different. Instead of putting the kids down and immediately sitting on the couch with my spuse, I picked up a book and read on the couch. I ended up finishing Isaac Asimov's _Foundation_ (the first one), and immediately wanted to go out and get the second one, but it was too late, so I picked up my Kindle and continued reading the Furyck Saga. I also ended up writing in my hardcopy journal, something I haven't done since July...July! As is always the case when I haven't written in there, I feel a bit slow and clunky, but the juices started flowing again, and not surprisingly, I write about Gemini, and screen time.
I also briefly mentioned this in my email, but I think one of the biggest benefits of being unplugged from the Internet is the reduction in the amount of times you have to mentally switch gears. What I mean is, when you're looking at your phone, say, at the dinner table, you're possibly paying *some* attention to what's going on around you, but most of your focus is on your screen. When something pulls you away, you have to look up, and mentally switch gears to real life, and what's going on around you. Your brain (or mine does) then replays very quickly the things you weren't paying attention to so that you can absorb and catch up to what's happening. There's a delay in natural communication, and sometimes it annoys me, especially when I just want to have a natural conversation with someone.
This communications delay may be a mild annoyance, but consider this - if it happens enough it can inhibit or prevent people from having a naturally flowing conversation. I'm old enough to remember what life was like before cellphones, and the thing I see the most different is this: if people were bored, they were bored together, connecting with one another in a *shared reality* that flowed naturally. One person would look at the other, realize they're bored too, and go "Hey, what happened with the..." and continue to connect further. I even remember strangers being friendly in waiting rooms, albeit rare at that time, but it still happened. Today it's just downward looks into the content providing device in their hand.
One may say that the Internet and phones have connected people like never before. Sure, it has. But apparently I got old somewhere along the way, and I'm of the mind that human interaction can't be replaced. There's something in your mind that doesn't respond to text messages quite the same way a phone call or talking in person would. Video chats are close, but even still not the same as natural in-person conversation. Also, it seems the newer generations (god save the ones growing up in covid) try to avoid actual human interaction as much as possible, for the fear of awkwardness. Why? Depression is on the rise, and we look to the internet and our phones, and yet the people that can help us probably aren't there. I'm not saying the internet is horrible for mental illness, not at all, but walking outside and meeting your neighbors might help too. Who knows, maybe they'd invite you over for a game night or dinner sometime.
This leads me to what I think I'll write about in my next post: being a bad nerd. The main point is this: I grew up with the sparkle of the internet in my eye - I was doing all sorts of crazy "things with computers" back in the 90s, but as time has pushed on and the internet has become what it is now, I've become less and less of a nerd as a I was. The spark is gone. Yes, I'm one of those "Orphans of Netscape" that ~Solderpunk eloquently described. If you haven't read it, I suggest the read:
Orphans of Netscape, by Solderpunk
I definitely went off course here, but to get back to the main point, I think having Internet-free days can be freeing. Give it a try. Thank you Rob / jsreed5 for the thought-provoking post.
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2023-01-16
Tags: nostalgia, screen time
Gritty
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