What can we do to avoid the pernicious effects of media?

[ktm5124]

There are many benefits to modern technology, such as this forum, Skype, word processors, etc. But there are also many pitfalls - the shortening of attention span, wasted time, the de-personalization of relationships. We could have another thread in which we'd argue over the pitfalls, but for the purposes of the thread I will assume you agree with me. We have, after all, lamented the dangers of the media quite frequently on this forum.

So what do you think we can do to avoid these dangers? I'll start off with some of my own suggestions, which I am currently implementing in my life, to the effect of much happiness:

1. Don't web surf. I believe studies have shown, or at least inferred, that television and the web both re-wire our brains in a way that favors short-term decision making at the expense of attention span, and perhaps even long-term memory.

2. Don't watch cable television, or at least not aimlessly. This follows from the above explanation. Flicking through television channels is analogous to surfing the web. Many television shows are admirable works of art, however, so targeting them on cable, or better yet, watching them through NetFlix or the internet, is fine.

3. Take occasional vacations from technology. Toss your computer into your closet and don't take it out for a week. Write things in pen or pencil, without a word processor, so you can appreciate the conveniences of the word processor, and separate the software and the keyboard from the actual act of writing - that way, it is more a machine than a method.

I realize this thread strays dangerously into self-help territory - which I hate! - and also that it sounds rather pedagogical - and I hate pedagogy - but I encourage all others to take the same tone, that way my post is not so singular :-) I don't know why I listed my suggestions in the imperative, but perhaps it can become the format for the thread, in a light and playful manner.

[Helga]

I don't really web surf, I come here and I check my e-mail and sidereel, oh and imdb and wikipedia but I rarely check out anything else and I never click on any ads...
I don't have a tv anymore
I couldn't live without my laptop...

but for a lot of people this can really be a problem, I know some people who web surf for ten to fifteen hours a day and I'm sure this can affect a lot, not just what you mentioned but also short tempered and their mood in many ways.

[Emil Miller]

I am also concerned about this problem and I do think that the media have a pernicious effect on us. I have always had a deep suspicion of the mass mentality. I therefore keep a critical eye and ear on what is being broadcast and, more essentially, why. I like to make up my own mind about the way of the world by measuring it against my own experience. This may be difficult for those of limited experience and they are the ones who are most likely to be targeted by the media. To take one example, so-called reality TV. Although this is the antithesis of entertainment, millions of people believe that watching a number of nonentities do nothing in particular is worth their time. If that's what they want to do then that's their business, but even a casual viewer of the social scene must find it disturbing.
This theme has, to some extent, already been discussed in an earlier thread called Trash Television but my answer to the problem is to stop watching television.
With regard to surfing the web, I think you are right about the way that it undermines our ability to think rationally. The instant gratification of being able to switch from one unconnected subject to another at the press of a button isn't conducive to the logical sequencing of a person's thought process.
It's not necessary to point out the advantages of the Internet if it is used properly but mindless surfing isn't beneficial.
My way of dealing with the addictive effect of the Internet is to play a musical instrument. It takes a good deal of time to learn to play music reasonably well and in the process one easily forgets the computer.

[LitNetIsGreat]

Hmmm. I think being selective is definitely the key, especially when it comes to TV and the newspapers. I also like the idea of going without technology or the news for a while, even if it is just for a day or two.

I personally don't read the newspapers at all and know that I feel better for it - as newspapers are only conductive to bad moods and depression!

It helps to get away from it all for a while, even for just a few hours. For example just last night I biked up to a local reservoir and just sat for a while, with all the greenness and stuff, pretty relaxing (I then biked to a great hilltop country pub and had a nice pint, also relaxing!)

Overall though I don't think that there is too much of a problem (with brain chemicals and all of that) like most things it's just a case of moderation.

[El Viejo]

As you said, changes in the media are producing changes in our minds, not necessarily good changes. Every change we've faced or created throughout history has changed us. We developed ranching and agriculture and, for the most part, stopped hunting and gathering. We invented the clock and artificial light and the sun no longer had absolute rule over our 'day.' Our minds and bodies changed in accordance. With each change--writing, books, fire, cooking, artificial light--some have predicted, usually accurately, the downside of the new thing.

The downside of instant media is as you stated; we'll lose connection and intimacy and attention span. We will lose depth in exchange for breadth.

With each change has come what we generally consider 'good.' We aren't dependent on a successful hunt to avoid starvation. We can keep working or playing when the sun goes down. The 'good' we see in instant media is now we can have eight thousand 'friends' all over the world, and talk to any or all of them on a moment's notice. This could, by exposing us to different ways of thinking, different cultures, broaden our horizons. All this cross-exposure could also tend to homogenize the world, reducing the differences.

The greatest benefit I can see will come disguised as an evil. Instant media will eventually dampen our ability to advance technologically because we won't have the attention span to develop new stuff, or maintain the old stuff, for that matter.

This will be a good thing. For a long time we've been bemoaning how our advancing technology has far outstripped our social and moral development. Perhaps we will tweet ourselves into a place where we can catch up.

[Emil Miller]

The greatest benefit I can see will come disguised as an evil. Instant media will eventually dampen our ability to advance technologically because we won't have the attention span to develop new stuff, or maintain the old stuff, for that matter.

This will be a good thing. For a long time we've been bemoaning how our advancing technology has far outstripped our social and moral development. Perhaps we will tweet ourselves into a place where we can catch up.

Perhaps, but it is often better to travel hopefully than arrive. Years ago I read the short story The Machine Stops by E.M. Forster, which is absolutely essential reading for anyone concerned with this subject. It deals with the depersonalising effect of technology and predicts a world where people lose the will to think for themselves and seldom communicate directly with each other because technology renders it unnecessary. This is increasingly what is happening now, but as Forster postulates... what happens when the machine stops?

[JuniperWoolf]

I love the theatre, but lately they've been playing ads for "stuff" beforehand. I hate that, I wish they still just played music with four or five movie trailers but instead you‘ve got to sit through garbage car commercials. You can’t even read, because they turn the lights down. So, I plug my ears and hum to myself (much to the embarrassment of my friends).

[ktm5124]

Perhaps, but it is often better to travel hopefully than arrive. Years ago I read the short story The Machine Stops by E.M. Forster, which is absolutely essential reading for anyone concerned with this subject. It deals with the depersonalising effect of technology and predicts a world where people lose the will to think for themselves and seldom communicate directly with each other because technology renders it unnecessary. This is increasingly what is happening now, but as Forster postulates... what happens when the machine stops?

Ah, thanks for the recommendation! Forster happens to be one of my favorite authors, and I haven't read that (or any of his short fiction).

I certainly find that technology attenuates the need to meet others in person. I fell victim to web surfing the other day, and promptly shelved my computer away in my closet. Once my computer was in my closet, I felt bored, and felt the need to invite someone over. But I did not have that need to invite someone over before shelving my computer. Technology seems to replace our social needs with the attention of the media (e.g., the need to see a friend and invite them over vanishes when we are content with surfing the web alone).

[OrphanPip]

I refuse to be separated from my computer. I carry my laptop with me wherever I go, and you'll have to pry it from my cold, dead hands before I stop using it for mindless entertainment.

[Emil Miller]

I refuse to be separated from my computer. I carry my laptop with me wherever I go, and you'll have to pry it from my cold, dead hands before I stop using it for mindless entertainment.

Which is one reason why I prefer a desktop. I spend enough time on the computer as it is, I don't want the damned thing following me around.

[Revolte]

You know you guys, there are alot of other means of going around certain things. There are a bunch of Anarcho News/magazine prints around the world, as well as infoshops and other collectives that have art showcases, free movie nights ect ect. Though I won't lie, I web and channel surf alot, out of bordem, I usually end up watching a movie or or something on history channel, nothing else does it for me, maybe spondgebob here and there haha. Even the internet has alot of ways to be informed, alot of sub media projects and orginizations, I've ran my ( what is now a one man ) collective via the internet for nearly two years now. I think through all the time spent on useless brain cell killing crap, there are a number of ways to use this stuff progressively.

[El Viejo]

... what happens when the machine stops?

If I remember Forster right, panicked bewilderment.

That's actually what I was talking about. I don't think Forster says why the machine stops. I suggest that it could stop because we lost the ability to keep it going.