I have one simple question for everyone here: Could you turn off everything (TV, computer, PS3, iPod, radio, cell phone, etc) and live like that for at least four days?
My answer would be a big "No!" No, because I am addicted to DJ; no, because I am addicted to my cellphone; no, because I need my daily dose of internet; no, because I am addicted to TV; and no,no,no,no,no: I cannot make it without music through the day!
However, a dozen communications students from Seattle University recently attempted a 96-hour "media deprivation" experiment.
No listening to iPods or car radios. No checking e-mail. No chatting on cellphones. No surfing Web sites such as MySpace.com or Facebook.com. No watching "Desperate Housewives" or "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart."
In actuality, the experiment was supposed to last a week. However, students protested, some of them by cheating, others by saying and complaining out loud. They couldn't last 4 days without technology.
Which perhaps proves professor Mara Adelman's point: The art of alone time is increasingly lost in our hectic, frazzled, wired lives.
Her course explores quiet time for clarity, creativity and spirituality. It also explores loneliness and isolation.
Before the experiment was conducted, each of the students had to write what they did each day (checked e-mail, etc).
Blaire Babcock said this:
"After reviewing my media log I noticed that I compulsively check my e-mail and phone messages for a fear that I will miss something. I found that I become anxious before I check my e-mail," she wrote in a course paper. "I turn on the TV as soon as I am up or return home. I enjoy the background noise but I rarely give it my full attention. I'm often multitasking."
So what did students actually discover? They discovered that they had more free time for studying, doing homework, or even for themselves and families.
According to some, we're living in a bizarre world, that just doesn't seem to work.
Well, yes, we're living very hectic lives. I checked what I do. Until now I checked my e-mail 6 times, checked my cell phone messages 10 times, checked my pager 7 times, talked on my phone for 30 minutes, spent time on DJ for 4 hours, listened to music whole day and turned on the TV once. I think it would be so much more peaceful if all this technology did not exist. What annoys me the most is my cell phone. It is a bad thing to have. For example, I plan my day and then my boss calls me that I have to go to work immediately because something came up. If I didn't have my cell phone, he wouldn't be able to reach me and would therefore, have to find someone else (it's not that I don't like my job, but some days are just hectic as hell). So, what do you think?
