Do you have the capacity to do nothing?

[LaffingBear]

Can you sit and do nothing? Could you sit on a public bench and people-watch? Enjoy your yard or balcony, just soaking in sites and sounds, be they nature or urban? Sit on a plane or train and watch the world go by the window? No device. No food.

 

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_gCXQ-baCWG0/Rqtnpmj8sYI/AAAAAAAAAGw/hgByoIGpTxg/s320/Devil%27s+workshop.gif

I've arrived at the conclusion that the greatest marketing achievement of our time is the electronics, particularly the cell&device, industry's exploitation of the human need for activity. To fill idle time.

 

Six or seven years ago, I'd sit on SF Bay public transit, watching fellow riders get antsy in no-signal zones. They'd literally pull out phones and hold them up in the air upon exiting tunnels, hoping for a signal. Now, if course, there are signals in tunnels.

 

TV ads depict families, vacationing in the great outdoors, but huddled in their tent projecting a movie on the tent-wall. People are depicted playing on beaches or in parks, phones-in-hands.

 

I took a tech friend on vacation, his first time ever in the sierra mountains. He freaked out if he couldnt get a signal, and couldn't just enjoy the surroundings.

 

People sit at sporting events, in the stadium, but watch the game on their phone.

 

Im not anti-phone or tech. Its part of my life. I track exercise, post on social media, shop, make reservations, etc. I'm conditioned to feel like a phone is an important emergency device when I drive, and have even returned home to retrieve a forgotten phone.

 

I'm simply observing, and wondering whether, we're conditioning ourselves to be entirely unable to disconnect at all.

[+ sniper]

Yeah we've pretty much all got internet-induced ADD at this point. It(well my inability to ignore it) has hindered my life, I would say.

In particular it's been ruining my sleep. I need to go buy a 5 dollar alarm clock and put my phone away at night.

[+ sync]

Yes, I have periods when I am very contented to do nothing but observe the world going by me. I'm thinking it's a generational thing. During my lifetime power and communications outages were/are major inconveniences, but hardly the states of complete helplessness that many young people today believe them to be; which feeds a looming concern of mine about the possibility of an act of terrorism taking down our power grid.

[gallahadesquire]

Nothing better than a long train ride (couple of days) ... watch out the window when it's pretty, and read a book (not an e-reader; well, that would do on a long trip) when it isn't, and when there's no light. Although, with respect to night time, urban areas seen by rail are fascinating at night.

[jjkrkwood]

YES I could and find it refreshing.... I DONT own a cell phone. And as I continue to get older, I like things "simpler"...

[+ oldNbusted]

Can you sit and do nothing? Could you sit on a public bench and people-watch? Enjoy your yard or balcony, just soaking in sites and sounds, be they nature or urban? Sit on a plane or train and watch the world go by the window? No device. No food.

 

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_gCXQ-baCWG0/Rqtnpmj8sYI/AAAAAAAAAGw/hgByoIGpTxg/s320/Devil%27s+workshop.gif

I've arrived at the conclusion that the greatest marketing achievement of our time is the electronics, particularly the cell&device, industry's exploitation of the human need for activity. To fill idle time.

 

Six or seven years ago, I'd sit on SF Bay public transit, watching fellow riders get antsy in no-signal zones. They'd literally pull out phones and hold them up in the air upon exiting tunnels, hoping for a signal. Now, if course, there are signals in tunnels.

 

TV ads depict families, vacationing in the great outdoors, but huddled in their tent projecting a movie on the tent-wall. People are depicted playing on beaches or in parks, phones-in-hands.

 

I took a tech friend on vacation, his first time ever in the sierra mountains. He freaked out if he couldnt get a signal, and couldn't just enjoy the surroundings.

 

People sit at sporting events, in the stadium, but watch the game on their phone.

 

Im not anti-phone or tech. Its part of my life. I track exercise, post on social media, shop, make reservations, etc. I'm conditioned to feel like a phone is an important emergency device when I drive, and have even returned home to retrieve a forgotten phone.

 

I'm simply observing, and wondering whether, we're conditioning ourselves to be entirely unable to disconnect at all.

 

 

Yes. I know this because as much as I love the tech and an always-on connection, I didn't grow up with it, I don't want to forget that life. When I go on vacation, I disconnect as much as possible, don't watch or read the news, only use my phone to communicate with the people I'm seeing.

 

As for the big picture, I try to take the long view. As with most new technology, there is a period of overindulgence since there are no social norms to guide people. Eventually a balance is struck and the world doesn't end.

[MikeyGMin]

For about 15 minutes at the most. I don't need a phone or an electronic device, but I need a diversion of some type.

[gallahadesquire]

A friend of mine is a Senior Vice President of a large wealth management firm.

 

He needed to get away from it all, so he took a trans-Atlantic cruise.

 

I want to take the Royal Clipper transAtlantic.

 

http://www.cruisemapper.com/images/ships/808-large-2e59a353e9474d6eff28cca1b1565366.jpg

[AndreFuture]

Yes. While I'm addicted to internet-enabed devices, I can also just daydream about sexy men

[Gadfly22]

Can you sit and do nothing? Could you sit on a public bench and people-watch? Enjoy your yard or balcony, just soaking in sites and sounds, be they nature or urban? Sit on a plane or train and watch the world go by the window?

 

No one does it better than David Puddy

 

Classic Seinfeld episode. You can even see "vegetable lasagne" sitting on the other side of Elaine!

[+ Charlie]

I don't own a smart phone, and I turn on my old flip phone only when I am expecting to get or make an important call, which means it is sometimes turned off for days. I don't listen to anything when I am in the car. I love to just sit in a park, on a beach, etc., and watch the world go by. I don't watch anything on the ubiquitous screens while traveling on a plane. I hate it when there is a TV on in the waiting room at the doctor's office or the auto service area. At an auto wash, I like to just watch the car being washed and polished. I am happy to sit outdoors and watch the changes in the sky. My favorite activity of the day is a long walk with the dog, as he stops to investigate all the interesting smells. At the gym, I never watch the TV screens or listen to an iPod. At the pool, I float or swim in the water, and lie peacefully in the sun afterwards, listening to the sounds of the birds in the trees. On a train, I spend most of the time looking out the window at the scenery.

 

The one thing that is beginning to concern me is my compulsion, when I am at home, to check my computer or iPad every couple of hours for new emails, even though I delete 80% of them without reading. And then there is this site....

[Gadfly22]

At the gym, I never watch the TV screens or listen to an iPod.

 

Neither do I! So many hot guys to watch grunting and moaning while struggling to lift that barbell.....one......more.......time...........arghhhhhhhh!! Straight boys, so entertaining!

[+ sync]

I like to just watch the car being washed and polished.

 

Ummm hmmm, me too. Of course, it has nothing to do with the washers or the polishers.

[Bearofdistinction]

YES I could and find it refreshing.... I DONT own a cell phone. And as I continue to get older, I like things "simpler"...

 

Oh yes -Love to just sit on the Boardwalk at the Shore and pee-pee/pec/pit watch