This week: You and Your Tech Edited by: Kit of House Lannister  
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How much time do you spend gazing at a screen? It may be more than you think...
This week's Drama Newsletter is all about the benefits and the downsides of life with modern technology.
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How much time do you spend in front of a screen? At work, at home, on the bus or the train, when out with your family or friends… whichever device you are using at the time, it all adds up. If I am perfectly honest with myself – and with you, the reader – my answer would be too much.
My main device is my laptop. I use it for my studies, research, for banking, shopping, catching the news, watching shows and movies, for gaming and for general browsing. I don’t tend to browse or to stream anything on my phone, but I do app with my family and send them pictures and voice messages. When my husband and I fancy watching a show together, we’ll do so on his monitor linked to his laptop. That’s several devices just in this household, and we don’t even have a television, which most people would consider somewhat odd.
I’m not glued to my phone. I switch it off at night and sometimes I forget to switch it back on during the day. I don’t usually take it with me when I am out of the house, either. Not unless I’m going somewhere I need to ring a taxi home from. I do like it, though. I resisted getting a smartphone for I don’t even know how many years, but it’s handy to have and I don’t regret the purchase. My husband calls it ‘the Death Star’ and is determined to stick to his regular cell phone. He is not at all charmed by ‘smart’ technology.
He and I both belong to Gen X, a generation that grew up with landlines and phone booths, with TVs without remotes and those video tapes you had to rewind after watching a movie. You used cassette tapes to record your favourite songs off the radio. MTV still played music. Our teachers would tell us you had to know your math because it’s not like you’d have a calculator with you everywhere you go...
To have the world’s knowledge at your fingertips seemed like a load of sci-fi nonsense, yet with a few keystrokes we can now find the answer to the vast majority of questions, in addition to being able to access uncountable cat videos – a fact that I won’t ever complain about. Computers have enriched my life. Without them, I wouldn’t have been able to complete my degrees. I would never have found an audience for my writing. Life in the countryside would be a bit of a nightmare without the ability to shop online. The Internet helps me stay connected to family and friends, especially those who live abroad.
Still… I cannot ignore the downsides of modern technology. There are people who cannot stand to be away from their phones, and they’ll gaze at the screen even when at a restaurant, or when visiting loved ones; constantly connected, yet detached from their surroundings. Too many companies use this extension-of-the-self as a justification to send messages and emails at any time of the day, boldly breaching the boundary between working hours and well-deserved (and necessary) private time.
A friend of ours went to a gig recently. He’d really looked forward to the evening, and paid good money for the ticket. Once the artist hit the stage, everyone in front of him stuck their arms up in the air, holding up their phones, blocking his view. His only options, in the end, were to watch the show through their phone screens, or on the big screen next to the stage. To say that he felt disappointed with the experience would be an understatement.
A big complication of life with technology is that we are exposed to so much information, constantly, that it can feel difficult to simply be. Yes, we know more about the world than we did before. Yes, it’s helped bring us all closer and made us realise that no matter our nation or our culture, we’re pretty much the same when you get right down to it. Which is great. But the constant stream of content can make people feel that they have to keep up or miss out. And the focus on bad news rather than the positive things going on in the world can make us feel anxious and stressed.
Sometimes, it’s helpful to switch off for a while. Get away from our screens. Go out in nature, spend time with loved ones, attend a gig or event of your choice and be in the moment! We miss out on so much when focussing on our screens. Life is filled with small joys - from the deer stealthily moving past us in the woods to the person smiling at you as you pass them on the street - and if you miss them you may never get another opportunity to have that experience and create that memory.
Balance, as always, is the key to a healthy life with modern technology. Use it, enjoy it, let it enrich you… but be careful that it doesn’t take over your days and your nights, that it doesn’t damage your relationships, that it doesn’t lead to unhealthy habits.
Technology is a tool. Don’t let it control you.
Kit of House Lannister
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Drama: May 04, 2022 Issue [#11345]
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