Saturday 22 September 2012

Is Always On Exhausting or Exhilarating?


In a recent conversation with a techno-phobic (or at least reticent) colleague she was bemoaning the constant state of connectedness that modern technology forces upon people.  I've heard this complaint from a lot of people who struggle to remain unplugged.

The conversation:

she: I choose to remain present and not in a state of constant inattention!

me:  It's more of a oneness with the datasphere, you're never alone, a living cell in a massive organism... a heightened state of awareness, the world is all around you, information conducted by you...

she:  Wow...sounds almost like Zen Buddhism. Ohm.

One of the reasons this onlineness isn't work for me is because it's cathartic.  I never feel like I'm doing work, it feels more like self expression.  I'm the one who directs it, it's empowering.

What I find exhausting is sitting in traffic, fascism , traffic lights, current Canadian politics, indoctrination and standing in lines.  If I had to do that 24/7, I'd go mental, yet millions of people accommodate  these things as the necessities of daily life.  When I'm online I'm orchestrating my interests, communicating with people I enjoy and feeding my mind.  How would I ever get tired of that?

And as for information overload.... well...