Decreasing technology reliance

THIS is going to be the toughest part of all.

Neil Postman probably had something to say about this in his book Amusing Ourselves to Death. I wanted to get this yesterday at Tattered Cover, but alas, no such luck. Apparently, I'm a full generation removed from Postman's heyday. I mean, I last read Technopoly back in the mid-1990s. And damn it all, Postman died in 2003. No wonder he hasn't been seen around for such a long time. I was wondering why I hadn't seen his writings around. His cautionary, Ludditesque voice would be so valuable now.

Anyhow, Tattered Cover didn't have his stuff. Nor, apparently, does the library. For shame. I'm disappointed. I wonder who Postman's true philosophical heirs are. May have to do some sleuthing.

Why do I say this? Because I'm caught, as my previous posts have revealed. What is my issue? It's one thing to just be happy with playing games, reading posts, or the like on my phone. But it also takes away my ambition and my drive. It keeps my mind thinking about inconsequential things, and off the things that matter—even when I am away from the phone. I think I've experienced this throughout my life with the TV—and more so with computers—but the phone's influence is much more intense. It's not fun to deal with this.

And all my desire to get away from the phone and get back to reading and to improve my mental stamina is worth bubkes if I don't figure out a way to make it successful. People who tried to get smokers away from their habit by explaining all the negative health consequences—thereby scaring them away from the habit—were not successful. And as much as I'd like to think so, reading about the negative effects of social media and such won't scare me away from it. So I have to figure out a way to get away from it that will work. I won't be able to come up with it now, but I need to come up with a strategy of some sort.