Technology Change n. 2!

TECHNOLOGY CHANGE N.2

What happens when a modern teenager is left without technological devices? He feels lost and disoriented. Granted that this would not happen only to teenage boys but also to parents, girls and many others, the issue becomes a little scary. I remember reading in a book that this feeling of not belonging is the proof that we live in a generation that is so dependent on technology, that a detachment from it is utterly unthinkable.  Are we really that dependent on technology? The diary I have been keeping (read previous post) has shown me that I am way more dependent on it than I thought. Refusing to believe to have lost control over the technologies I own, I decided that my second technological change had to be that of surviving one day every week without the use of my smartphone, my camera, and/or my computer.

Challenge accepted!

I did, indeed, feel lost without my "beloved" devices. However, I have to admit, I kind of enjoyed it. Not knowing where I had to be and at what time, no one calling/texting me, no Facebook notifications to worry about. During the days I spent without technology, I have felt a strange sense of freedom. I could wonder around following my instinct instead of the map on my phone and not worry about where they’d take me.  I could read a book for hours without feeling the urge to check my phone.  It sounds silly because obviously I can choose to read or wonder around without checking my phone even without having to tell my self that for a day I am not allowed to do so. The strange thing is that with me it is not the case. If I have my phone next to me, I use it and what is worst is that I don’t even realize that I am using it. Thus the idea that I too am, as Clark suggests, a cyborg, a ”human technology symbiont”, is not that shocking after all. Technology has become a huge part of my life; it has doubtlessly become part of who I am.

I would like to share a couple of experiences I have lived without technology:

For one day a week I got to enjoy the re-birth of my senses. As I walked through the farmer market on Thursday night, the beauty of the place hit me like it never had before: the aroma of fresh fruit, the sweet flavor of oranges, the cyan shades of the sky, the bustle of people walking through the street market. I must have walked the same street tons of times before, but this was the first time I actually embraced it all, the colors, the aromas, and the curious variety of people that populate it. I am not sure if it was for the fact that I did not have a phone or a camera with me, or simply because I knew that grasping every single detail was what I was there to do, but I loved it.

The second “adventure” I would like to talk about was a little more challenging. I decided to do what years of self-consciousness have always prevented me to: I sat alone at a little café downtown, drinking coffee and watching pedestrians walking by. I have to admit that not having the chance to hide behind the screen of my phone was nerve racking. It took me about 20 minutes to decide I had to leave, and that I really did not like the way that sitting alone made me feel.  This experience was not as successful as I thought and it made me realize how much I rely on my phone in uncomfortable situations.

The third technology free experience I would like to share is my five days long road trip with two Italian friends. I left SLO behind and with it I left my worries and my phone. Las Vegas, Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon and Death Valley. Having no phone was harder than I thought and to be honest, I don’t think we would have survived if my friends had left their phones at home as I did. Without the help of a GPS we would have certainly got lost in the desert and with no phone to call for help, I doubt we would have ever been able to find the right path again. My mom would have taken the first flight for the States if I hadn’t use my friends phone to let her know I was ok every once in a while. We would have never found the closest campground had it not been for them. On the other hand, I really enjoyed not having a camera or a phone with me. I could admire the overwhelming beauty of nature without any distraction. I was lucky enough to experience those beautiful landscapes, for the most part still untouched by humans: no car noises, no Wi-Fi; just me, my friends and the immensity of nature.

My plan is to keep having a technology-free day a week to remind myself that it is ok not to answer e-mails two minutes after I receive them, that it s ok for my friends not to receive constant updates on my life, that it is ok to get lost and feel disoriented, and that is ok to feel uncomfortable once in a while. As Slack and Wise argue new technologies aim at overcoming human limits, time and space in particular. But, maybe, there are some limits that are not worth being overcome.

I am going to keep a technology free day to remind myself that every time I am looking at the screen of my phone instead of embracing life around me, I am missing out on something that is much more valuable than a FB notification.