Are you happy with the way that you’re currently engaging with technology, personally and/or professionally? Whether your answer is yes or no, how are you thinking about your relationship with technology in the future? What changes, if any, would you like to make? And lastly: are there certain tools, or resources, or communities that you wish existed (or that already do) that would support you as you develop or implement your strategy?
I’ve gotten rid of all consumption social media FB, twitter, Insta etc and only kept LinkedIn and now Substack. I’ve changed settings on my phone to make my iPhone more of a dumb phone and downloaded Cold Turkey to my Mac that blocks sites and apps on a timer. I’ve been working to listen to more whole albums offline (vinyl, local download etc) instead of streaming playlists. Small steps but they help.
I am concerned that the tech used in the classroom today will be obsolete in the future. I want to find ways for students to develop skills that will be useful for the entirety of their lives.
1. I am happy with how I engage with technology - I am a librarian and there are a lot of really great digital tools that are free that allow people to learn on their own, and I love finding them and teaching people how to use them.
2. I am trying to be mindful of what information I surround myself with- positive, engaging materials are more rewarding than mindless jokes. The tech I choose to use determines what information I receive, largely. I am good at physical exercise and maintaining a good balance of exercise/rest, and I'm trying to do the same with technology and the information I gain from it.
3. Digital tools I love include wikiversity, wikipedia, connected papers, zotero, canva, library genesis, scihub, github.
I can't say i'm currently entirely happy, but I've picked up some good practices. Some of this problem is individual, but many of the hard problems are collective action problems(everyone/my friends use this platform why don't you, etc), how do you take a break from a communications app and tell others.
What is a healthy use of internet search for problem exploration or honest questions and where does that verge on using it like an oracle?
How to approach technology use in a family, when all our friends use app XYZ?
How to know when to model good habits, and when to set a hard limit?
I like the approach of limited use during the day (not in the mornings, not past 8pm), but I have a hard time staying consistent with this for more than a week or so.
I think digital hygeine and training is good too (showing how to set varying levels of notification allowances, and when those notifications can be shown, when to physically or virtually restrict phone or app access and have my wife in charge of allowing access and vice versa).
Also technnology fasting with a group of friends is good, we did a competition for lowest screen time on our phones in a month with a reward, but allowed devices like ipads and laptops. It was surprising how much just that helped, and the conversations around it.
technology use in a family seems particularly difficult. I don't envy parents who have to manage their kids' technology usage and teach balance essentially from their birth.
Digital hygiene is an interesting term as well, I may borrow that!
I'm not entirely happy with it. I make my living online so the challenge I have is slipping from "work mode" to "dorking around mode" or letting my work mode bleed into my dorking around mode. Would like firmer boundaries.
My ideal that shoot for is this monk at Clear Creek Abbey here in OK that I met when I stayed in the monastery for a weekend a few years ago. He was the "internet monk." He answered emails and did some other online work for the monastery. The computer was basically a shovel for him. He got on, did what he had to do, and got off to get on with the rest of his day.
Would like to shift mindset so I view the internet more like a shovel. Working on it!
I've been reading Cal Newport's Digital Minimalism, and I love the way he describes the "attention economy." I've always been conscious of my IT security, but I have become more and more aware of how my time and attention are a currency for tech companies. I've also become increasingly aware of how much better I function when I have more analog time, so I have tried to implement the rule of one hour a day, one day a week, and one week a year without being on a screen.
I feel like I’m finally in a good place with it, after many years of struggle.
Personally - Intentionally leaving my phone in another room has helped a lot. You can’t absentmindedly scroll when you have to get up from your couch to do so.
Professionally - I have Outlook and Slack on my phone, but I have notifications turned off. I can still check stuff if I need to, but it sets hard boundaries for whenever I’m not in the office. Nothing from work can disrupt my personal time without my permission.
Yes, it always is. Human relationship with tech needs to be increasingly personalized, not just as "personalization" of the current way it is, instead towards facilitating self-realization in a man.
2. I want to find a balance that allows for the culmination of my three main interest where I can constantly engage without my neck turning red with the feeling of disorder.
3. It’s a wish (Athens, Jerusalem, Cooperstown). Lol
I recently watched this excellent series from Digging the Greats on paring way back on the overbearing, algorithm-driven attention magnets like Spotify, Instagram, Twitter, etc:
It's inspiring me to maybe not go _this_ cold-turkey on the digital, but certainly to exit from this stuff being so pervasively sucking our attention from in our pockets all the time.
I wonder what the "taxonomy of motivations" really is for tech; in other words, what are the big buckets of motivations that people cite (and in your case, perhaps try to limit to one...)
I think a lot of people would say “connection” is a big motivation. Whether or not digital connection is “real” in any way is a subject for debate, but I think many people are lonely and hoping to fill that void by going online in some way.
In 2018, I got rid of most social media. It was wonderful for my mental health and I feel so much better for it. However, there is one thing on Facebook that I occasionally struggle with not having: the local community groups.
There are so many local community groups I can’t access because they organize on Facebook. These include buy/sell groups, cancer support groups, sports leagues, etc. I’m recently engaged and just learned that the best place to find vendors in my price range was the local wedding planning group.
I’m incredibly torn. Facebook carries so much baggage – but the value of connecting with local community groups in my area is a real loss. If I could just have the active local community groups and nothing else, I’d be over the moon
Hi Clara - my wife and i noticed the same thing once we got rid of all our social media accounts.
We created a mutual facebook account that has almost zero friends to access the groups. We made our account name our street name and profile pic a facade of our home so people would know we're not bots when we're not interacting.
We literally never feel compelled to use it. We just use it when we need to look up information in community groups or look for anything interesting on fb marketplace.
Cost reduction is my technology goal. I’ve “discovered” so much via the internet that has enriched my life, but at the cost of countless wasted hours in between discoveries.
A durable metaphor I've been thinking more about is Odysseus and the Sirens. In Fooled by Randomness, Taleb says that we shouldn’t even try to be a mythological hero. That we should be like the sailors, stuffing our ears with beeswax.
Now whether this means complete eradication of media or deleting it from just the phone, or other tools, I’m still not sure. At minimum removing most media—especially TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat—from my phone has been a life-changing thing I won’t ever reverse. Same with changing my default setting to silent and Do Not Disturb.
But still, I like pondering the idea of a Ulysses pact vs. beeswax.
Paul Graham wrote in his essay, “The Acceleration of Addictiveness” that the world is becoming full of more things that we don’t want to want. And increasingly so. So maybe we’ll have to increasingly be like the sailors with media and technology, being completely ignorant? Sounds a little extreme perhaps, but then again seeing TikTok on my Macbook is still seductive.
You pose good questions. Let me start at the beginning:
1. What is tech?
Tech is a tool. As such, I think about tech more broadly than our common dialogue which tends to focus on digital tools.
2. What's the point of tech?
The point is to help me do, achieve, or experience something. I strive to make that something of value. I also strive to select the right tools for me considering 1.) their effectiveness, 2.) my level of enjoyment using them, 3.) their design (beauty may be a stretch in a lot of cases, but I can try), and 4.) any negative effects.
3. How are you currently engaging with technology?
I review my tools once a year to determine if they're still fit for purpose. My needs may have changed or something better may have come along. I also explore any shiny objects I collected over the year. I have a space where I stick them to look at later so they don't distract me in the meantime.
4. Are you happy with the way that you’re currently engaging with technology?
Right now, yes. With the exception of my TV which seems to serve as a distraction at best and something that stunts my level of social interaction at worst.
5. Whether your answer is yes or no, how are you thinking about your relationship with technology in the future? What changes, if any, would you like to make?
I think my relationship will remain largely the same while the tools I choose will change as my life changes and new things get created. I would like to get better at exploring more niche tools.
6. Are there certain tools, or resources, or communities that you wish existed (or that already do) that would support you as you develop or implement your strategy?
I'd love to know more people who aren't afraid to say no. I often encounter a blind if not panicked need to adopt the latest and greatest because we think it's inevitable. Enough people act that way and it becomes true. But it doesn't have to be.
Pardon the long note. I suspected you asked these questions for a reason and thought I'd send you a thorough answer.
Improving information diet. Building in ed tech. Channeling online relationships to IRL. And of course memes.
We should then add "Humor & Sense-Making" to the taxonomy of motivation (memes)
I’ve gotten rid of all consumption social media FB, twitter, Insta etc and only kept LinkedIn and now Substack. I’ve changed settings on my phone to make my iPhone more of a dumb phone and downloaded Cold Turkey to my Mac that blocks sites and apps on a timer. I’ve been working to listen to more whole albums offline (vinyl, local download etc) instead of streaming playlists. Small steps but they help.
I am concerned that the tech used in the classroom today will be obsolete in the future. I want to find ways for students to develop skills that will be useful for the entirety of their lives.
1. I am happy with how I engage with technology - I am a librarian and there are a lot of really great digital tools that are free that allow people to learn on their own, and I love finding them and teaching people how to use them.
2. I am trying to be mindful of what information I surround myself with- positive, engaging materials are more rewarding than mindless jokes. The tech I choose to use determines what information I receive, largely. I am good at physical exercise and maintaining a good balance of exercise/rest, and I'm trying to do the same with technology and the information I gain from it.
3. Digital tools I love include wikiversity, wikipedia, connected papers, zotero, canva, library genesis, scihub, github.
I can't say i'm currently entirely happy, but I've picked up some good practices. Some of this problem is individual, but many of the hard problems are collective action problems(everyone/my friends use this platform why don't you, etc), how do you take a break from a communications app and tell others.
What is a healthy use of internet search for problem exploration or honest questions and where does that verge on using it like an oracle?
How to approach technology use in a family, when all our friends use app XYZ?
How to know when to model good habits, and when to set a hard limit?
I like the approach of limited use during the day (not in the mornings, not past 8pm), but I have a hard time staying consistent with this for more than a week or so.
I think digital hygeine and training is good too (showing how to set varying levels of notification allowances, and when those notifications can be shown, when to physically or virtually restrict phone or app access and have my wife in charge of allowing access and vice versa).
Also technnology fasting with a group of friends is good, we did a competition for lowest screen time on our phones in a month with a reward, but allowed devices like ipads and laptops. It was surprising how much just that helped, and the conversations around it.
technology use in a family seems particularly difficult. I don't envy parents who have to manage their kids' technology usage and teach balance essentially from their birth.
Digital hygiene is an interesting term as well, I may borrow that!
I'm not entirely happy with it. I make my living online so the challenge I have is slipping from "work mode" to "dorking around mode" or letting my work mode bleed into my dorking around mode. Would like firmer boundaries.
My ideal that shoot for is this monk at Clear Creek Abbey here in OK that I met when I stayed in the monastery for a weekend a few years ago. He was the "internet monk." He answered emails and did some other online work for the monastery. The computer was basically a shovel for him. He got on, did what he had to do, and got off to get on with the rest of his day.
Would like to shift mindset so I view the internet more like a shovel. Working on it!
Here a great resource https://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/a-world-where-software-freedom-has-a-fighting-chance-and-hope-exists
I am trying to stop worshipping the news and replace that slot in my mind with adoration of the divine. Mostly failing, but I hold out hope.
I've been reading Cal Newport's Digital Minimalism, and I love the way he describes the "attention economy." I've always been conscious of my IT security, but I have become more and more aware of how my time and attention are a currency for tech companies. I've also become increasingly aware of how much better I function when I have more analog time, so I have tried to implement the rule of one hour a day, one day a week, and one week a year without being on a screen.
I feel like I’m finally in a good place with it, after many years of struggle.
Personally - Intentionally leaving my phone in another room has helped a lot. You can’t absentmindedly scroll when you have to get up from your couch to do so.
Professionally - I have Outlook and Slack on my phone, but I have notifications turned off. I can still check stuff if I need to, but it sets hard boundaries for whenever I’m not in the office. Nothing from work can disrupt my personal time without my permission.
Yes, it always is. Human relationship with tech needs to be increasingly personalized, not just as "personalization" of the current way it is, instead towards facilitating self-realization in a man.
1. Some weeks, yes. Some weeks, no.
2. I want to find a balance that allows for the culmination of my three main interest where I can constantly engage without my neck turning red with the feeling of disorder.
3. It’s a wish (Athens, Jerusalem, Cooperstown). Lol
I recently watched this excellent series from Digging the Greats on paring way back on the overbearing, algorithm-driven attention magnets like Spotify, Instagram, Twitter, etc:
https://youtu.be/Ou2dW4qebbw?si=2FQaLiV6r8iudsK-
It's inspiring me to maybe not go _this_ cold-turkey on the digital, but certainly to exit from this stuff being so pervasively sucking our attention from in our pockets all the time.
The strategy is “how will this help me fulfill my vocation?”
No, neither. Need less distraction, and only use as a productive positive tool.
I wonder what the "taxonomy of motivations" really is for tech; in other words, what are the big buckets of motivations that people cite (and in your case, perhaps try to limit to one...)
Productivity
Entertainment (Scrolling)
Learning
Communication
Etc.
I think a lot of people would say “connection” is a big motivation. Whether or not digital connection is “real” in any way is a subject for debate, but I think many people are lonely and hoping to fill that void by going online in some way.
In 2018, I got rid of most social media. It was wonderful for my mental health and I feel so much better for it. However, there is one thing on Facebook that I occasionally struggle with not having: the local community groups.
There are so many local community groups I can’t access because they organize on Facebook. These include buy/sell groups, cancer support groups, sports leagues, etc. I’m recently engaged and just learned that the best place to find vendors in my price range was the local wedding planning group.
I’m incredibly torn. Facebook carries so much baggage – but the value of connecting with local community groups in my area is a real loss. If I could just have the active local community groups and nothing else, I’d be over the moon
Hi Clara - my wife and i noticed the same thing once we got rid of all our social media accounts.
We created a mutual facebook account that has almost zero friends to access the groups. We made our account name our street name and profile pic a facade of our home so people would know we're not bots when we're not interacting.
We literally never feel compelled to use it. We just use it when we need to look up information in community groups or look for anything interesting on fb marketplace.
Hope this helps
Cost reduction is my technology goal. I’ve “discovered” so much via the internet that has enriched my life, but at the cost of countless wasted hours in between discoveries.
A durable metaphor I've been thinking more about is Odysseus and the Sirens. In Fooled by Randomness, Taleb says that we shouldn’t even try to be a mythological hero. That we should be like the sailors, stuffing our ears with beeswax.
Now whether this means complete eradication of media or deleting it from just the phone, or other tools, I’m still not sure. At minimum removing most media—especially TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat—from my phone has been a life-changing thing I won’t ever reverse. Same with changing my default setting to silent and Do Not Disturb.
But still, I like pondering the idea of a Ulysses pact vs. beeswax.
Paul Graham wrote in his essay, “The Acceleration of Addictiveness” that the world is becoming full of more things that we don’t want to want. And increasingly so. So maybe we’ll have to increasingly be like the sailors with media and technology, being completely ignorant? Sounds a little extreme perhaps, but then again seeing TikTok on my Macbook is still seductive.
P.S. In case you're curious, I briefly touched on this in my newsletter last week: https://www.baxterwrites.com/p/baxters-blend-a-new-newsletter
You pose good questions. Let me start at the beginning:
1. What is tech?
Tech is a tool. As such, I think about tech more broadly than our common dialogue which tends to focus on digital tools.
2. What's the point of tech?
The point is to help me do, achieve, or experience something. I strive to make that something of value. I also strive to select the right tools for me considering 1.) their effectiveness, 2.) my level of enjoyment using them, 3.) their design (beauty may be a stretch in a lot of cases, but I can try), and 4.) any negative effects.
3. How are you currently engaging with technology?
I review my tools once a year to determine if they're still fit for purpose. My needs may have changed or something better may have come along. I also explore any shiny objects I collected over the year. I have a space where I stick them to look at later so they don't distract me in the meantime.
4. Are you happy with the way that you’re currently engaging with technology?
Right now, yes. With the exception of my TV which seems to serve as a distraction at best and something that stunts my level of social interaction at worst.
5. Whether your answer is yes or no, how are you thinking about your relationship with technology in the future? What changes, if any, would you like to make?
I think my relationship will remain largely the same while the tools I choose will change as my life changes and new things get created. I would like to get better at exploring more niche tools.
6. Are there certain tools, or resources, or communities that you wish existed (or that already do) that would support you as you develop or implement your strategy?
I'd love to know more people who aren't afraid to say no. I often encounter a blind if not panicked need to adopt the latest and greatest because we think it's inevitable. Enough people act that way and it becomes true. But it doesn't have to be.
Pardon the long note. I suspected you asked these questions for a reason and thought I'd send you a thorough answer.