Technophile, Technophobe, or Both?
Monday starts a new semester, which along with the new year, provides a kind of rebirth for academics. There is power in this opportunity to start fresh, both meeting and teaching new students, at the same time refining and expanding on how we go about teaching them.
Living in 15-week spurts has disadvantages as well. Time goes entirely too fast. January bleeds into May, the short summer break comes, and then by the fall semester start in August, the year is basically over. The constant controlled and uncontrolled chaos of teaching pushes along at warp speed. The train is constantly moving and the destination seems a bit fuzzy. It is easy to develop a love/hate relationship with the semester clock.
Last week we lost electricity for a couple hours, just before darkness fell on our little piece of Florida. With a beautiful two-year-old daughter running around, the first instinct is to make sure she understands what is happening and, basically, does not freak out. To her, total darkness can be terrifying, so we made it a game with “magical” candles and fun sitting outside watching the stars. A few hours later, the lights came back on, and we packed up the Scion and went driving around to look at holiday lights around the neighborhood. We turned it into a great family evening.
The idea of the power outage stayed with me. My wife and I discussed how refreshing it felt without distractions, whether telephone calls or the constant blare of the TV (damn, it was nice to get a break from watching Caillou’s Xmas movie for the 1,000th time). For the first time in as long as I can remember, I actually felt decompressed. We pledged to turn everything off more often in the future in an attempt to recreate that unplugged feeling.
I realized that this conflicted feeling is similar to the way I feel about technology and teaching it to my students. On one hand, I love technology, not only working for years as a tech communicator and journalist, but exploring its power with my students, as well as the influence it will have on their careers. I think intellectual curiosity is the lynchpin of a career in communications and the constant technology evolution forces professionals to continue evolving, growing, and learning.
On the flipside, though, I hate my own addiction to technology…the gnawing feeling I get when I am not checking e-mail a million times a day; reading countless electronic newsletters, articles, journals, and essays; and trying to stay ahead of the curve on everything technology-related. When I give myself time to think about it, I know for a fact that I am spreading myself too thin, which is perpetuated by the way technology brings me closer to whatever pops into my head.
My lone attempt at fighting my own addiction is by completely repelling all technology based on cell phones. I realize that their are implications and that I am falling behind somewhat by not engaging in that arena, but there must be a stopping point.
Honestly, though, I can’t say that I use my time more wisely because I am not plugged in by cell, but I do devote some of it to the act of thinking. What I have noticed is that quiet time is virtually nonexistent in today’s society. We are so plugged in that reflection comes infrequently, if ever. Most college students cannot even walk across campus, whether a 7 a.m. or 7 p.m. without chatting away on the ubiquitous cell phone. For those of us over the age of 35, it is still unsettling to see people from a distant whose lips are moving or in the next lane over on the highway though all alone. I cannot be the only Gen Xer who gets a weird feeling in that fleeting moment before realizing that the person is on a cell phone.
Obviously, a blog is an odd place for such a technophile/technophobe confessional, but perhaps those who would read this are the most in need of thinking about the topic. These kinds of examinations are never simple and much larger than thinking about corporate America’s fascination with “work/life balance,” since technology is at the heart of the profession and unavoidable in the workplace.
More importantly, I do not think these issues should be pushed under the rug. Turnover (i.e. burnout) is a critical challenge in communications and tech-based chaos is a factor. My primary criticism is that technology should have made people more productive, thus enabling workers to work less, not more.
In fact, what happened is that technology gives management the opportunity to heap more on workers’ plates. I do not know a single communications professional who isn’t working the job of a person and a half or more. Fewer people on the payroll increases margins and profitability. Thus, the smartest, most efficient employees are given even more work, not a break from the onslaught. But, now I’m venturing onto another topic…
Getting back to the point. Technology enables us for better and worse.
I’ll admit: I am a technophile and technophobe. Are you?
January 5th, 2008 at 13:09
Bob, I heartily agree with your comments about the role of technology in our lives, especially cell phones and students’ behavior of having to talk non-stop between classes.
Not too long ago, I wrote in my More With Les weblog about just being — not cramming every minute with stimulation, be it in the technological form of ipod, cell phone, or whatever. Turn it all off from time to time and just think.
Like you, I love, yet at the same time, mistrust technology. I think one thing you said sums it up quite nicely: “My primary criticism is that technology should have made people more productive, thus enabling workers to work less, not more.” Ditto.
Les
January 5th, 2008 at 16:51
Hi Les,
You’re always such a thoughtful and insightful reader. I blush to think that you return to my humble blog from time to time.
I agree with you fully about finding time to “just think.” I wish more people (and my students) took time out of their plugged in lives to unwind and do a bit of deep thinking about their goals and aspirations as individuals and part of the larger society.
I think the evils of technology will be a topic I tackle after doing some research into the economicists’ arguments about the idea. I would love to read more from you on this point as well.
Thanks,
Bob
January 6th, 2008 at 11:06
Bob,
Your essay captures some of the angst that 40-, 50-, and 60-something technophiles feel daily. It’s oh-so easy to plug in, and the urge (as this Sunday morning comment shows) is almost a compulsive one (at least for me). I’m one of those people you describe, one whose workload has increased by 50, maybe even 100 percent thanks, in part, to the constant connection we all have. Like you, I both love it and hate it, but I’m certain I’ll never completely adjust to it.
I can’t tell you how many of my friends tell stories of feeling liberated when the “wires” malfunction, if only for a few hours as they did during your power outage. Given that the Internet has done so much to enhance our lives, why does it feel so damned good when it disappears for a few hours or days?
A question to ponder as we take on the challenges and the burdens of this new year.
January 6th, 2008 at 17:35
Hi Bill, thanks for the thoughtful comments. I’m glad (or is it really sad?) to know that others “connect” (ha, ha) with what I wrote about the workload increase and “always on” mentality.
Your comments have me thinking not only about the joke it is to think that technology would have given workers more freedom, but the seemingly silly notion tossed around that the next generation is the one that will get things right.
It is kind of off-topic, but I really think that each succeeding generation sells out for the sale baubles of its predecessors. Technology is a part of this because the wealth potential based on tech gives people a form of buck fever…this time for the green ones, not the ones on four legs out in the woods.
Who is behind the expectation that everyone must work harder and harder to stay above water? That is what I don’t get. I’ve worked for companies that went through massive (tens of thousands) of layoffs while the CEO made something in excess of $20 million. Again far from the original topic, but that disconnect and resulting personal devastation is pure evil.
I have no faith in my fellow GenXers to do anything but mimic our elders. I have seen too many people my age fight for the $$ over supposed values, etc.
There must be a better way…And my thinking (perhaps overly idealistic) is that communicators can bridge this gap.
January 6th, 2008 at 19:58
Bob,
Here is a link to my post on “non-doing”:
http://lespotter001.wordpress.com/2007/11/24/december-graduation-or-meet-your-fate-in-2008/
I hope you enjoy it.
Les