Proliferation of cellular technology has made one thing very clear. Now you can actually count all the people who are bored witless. Think about it. Carriers and device sellers now boast of their circulation and subscriptions to garner an even larger share of the consuming public.
Large portion of the conversations or email exchange or game play or video watching that happens now is (although a function of improvement of technology), of no drastic new value add. Moreover the people observed with device attachment syndrome seem to now share their boredom with others in a similar mindset.
It has simply added to the chatter on the airwaves with meaningless advertisements and coupons and promotions to zombies that have nothing better to do than stare at the latest version of rectangular glass. More customers get to win grass seeds by planting a cyber bush or raking e-leaves with no clue on what actual raking entails.
In fact one could argue that quality of life has deteriorated to the extent that people are getting killed (ones texting and ones on the sidewalk - subtext) while indulging in mobile device based distractions.
Their quality of life has shifted from physical interaction to device based interaction making it monotonous and rude in some cases.
The net consumption per household has shifted from buying fruits (apples included) to spending on the next electronic apple (take that GDP proponents). There was a news article that suddenly highlighted the dilemma faced by these modern families where eating out (family time) has taken a backseat to spend on mobile communications.
So while I am not voting to bring back snail mail or investing in letter writing stationary stocks I do think that people ought to give boredom a chance and avoid cellular decay.
On an informal mission to read one book a week as long as the eyes allow for such ambition. Fiction or non is not important as long as it entertains and /or educates. To that end the past few weeks have brought a bounty in the form of some wonderful and then not so engaging literature. Among the notables are - Non fiction category: 1. Good arguments by Bo Seo (how to handle a dispute or debate the most efficient way possible) 2. Genesis by Eric Schmidt (and former US Secy of State Henry Kissinger, who recently passed) - how AI might affect our lives as we know it 3. One in a billion - Zarna Garg (an autobiographical look at an Indian born American woman with a bindi narrated in a standup format - yes it is at times cliched but still funny) Fiction: 1. Personal by Lee Child (a vigilante story with Jack Reacher the giant, nomad protagonist of Child's novels goes hunting for a sniper) 2. Ramayana unraveled by Ami Ganatra (she might disagree about it being a work of fiction but oh wel...
I recommend the book 'How To Be Idle' by Tom Hodgkinson. In defense of boredom, or idling, to be more precise.
ReplyDeletestraightly added to bucket..meanwhile I looked up his wiki which is humorous where it sites - His philosophy of the Idle Parent is very much in tune with Slow parenting, although with a more light-hearted self-interest in drinking and sex. Wonder if that is in reference to the kids or parents?
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