You know… one of those people that have their headphones in ALL THE TIME and completely ignore the world around you most of the time? Me too… kinda.
Two things:
1. I worry about people that shut out their own thoughts and personal reflections; those times of silence when you are driving to work or just before you doze off to sleep or when you’re just out walking somewhere with nothing but your own thoughts. I think a lot of adolescents today are at risk of “Distractaphilia”: a desire for constant preoccupation and distraction from self-reflection. A big contributor is technology: iPods, cell phones, PSPs… always giving our attention to the latest media. We are in the information age after all; access to media and information has NEVER been easier in all of history! Recreational drugs used to be a preferred diversion from “real life”, but now could technology/media be our drug? One of Blaise Pascal’s best observations was centuries ahead of his time:
“if our condition were truly happy we should not need to divert ourselves from thinking about it...the sole cause of our unhappiness is that we do not know how to sit quietly in our room."
(remember this dude lived in the 1600’s! no iPods! No VH1!)
2. However, I’m not saying technology is bad, far from it; I use my mp3 player almost daily! But my question is, what are you putting into your head? Let’s make use of legitimate means for education or encouragement rather than just entertainment or brain-veg. I know, brain-veg is needed sometimes… but may I suggest a few resources where you can fill your iPod (or equivalent, I happen to have a very nice, and much cheaper, Samsung) with some pretty cool lectures, informational talks, even (gasp!) sermons!
2. However, I’m not saying technology is bad, far from it; I use my mp3 player almost daily! But my question is, what are you putting into your head? Let’s make use of legitimate means for education or encouragement rather than just entertainment or brain-veg. I know, brain-veg is needed sometimes… but may I suggest a few resources where you can fill your iPod (or equivalent, I happen to have a very nice, and much cheaper, Samsung) with some pretty cool lectures, informational talks, even (gasp!) sermons!
General Knowledge Lectures MP3s: History, Literature, Art, Languages, Science, Philosophy… learn something new!
So avoid “distractaphilia” if possible. Can you handle being alone with your own thoughts? And if you’re an iPodiot, at least fill it up with some good stuff!
No comments:
Post a Comment