Inner Space

My younger sister asked me, “What is your blog on tonight?” I said, “I have to talk about what philosopher I relate to the most.” She replied, “Which would that be?” and I said, “Seneca”
She asked me why and I began to wonder why I felt that I could relate to him the most. In William Powers, Hamlets Blackberry, he talks about Seneca and his work. Seneca talked about not losing yourself while trying to stay connected with everyone, he wanted us to stay within ourselves while still maintaining that sense of connectedness. We all need a couple hours out of our days to just think about ourselves and what we need to do to better our lives, but can we really stand not checking our cell phones that whole time? Chapter 12 suggests that we try having a conversation with someone with out any screens, just a good focused, undistracted chat. Not many of us would be so willing to put that cell phone aside for a couple minutes. Even limiting ourselves to one screen at a time is a step,  when I started this blog assignment I realized that I kept going form the computer screen to my cell phone screen and trust me I stopped that real quick because I don’t want to be one of those people that constantly need to have a screen in front of their face.
Another great suggestion is having other people as your search engines. Start a conversation with these people, ask about things going on in their lives or your relatives lives.  These simple steps make you realize you don’t need technology for everything! There are ways to stay connected without actually being connected.
We need to find our escape, something that makes it easier for this to happen. Some of us think we have found that “something” when in reality they are just running away from the “crowd-induced state of mind.”
“The man who spends his time choosing one resort after another in a hunt for peace and quiet, will in every place he visits and something to prevent him from relaxing” Once we figure out how to escape these things we will then be able to connect with our inner space and continue to make that connection stronger.

Don’t lose yourself.

A Cooler Self

In chapter 11 of Hamlet’s Blackberry, A Cooler Self, William Powers brings to our attention the works of Marshall Mcluhan. Mcluhan is not only the last philosopher mentioned but he is also what I find the most interesting in my opinion. This chapter stood out to me the most because Mcluahn knew what it was like to be sucked into technology so Powers had, what I would think, an easier time projecting those thoughts he had to all of us rather than getting the information and piecing together what was going on hundreds of years ago with Tables and what not.
Mcluhan is responsible for, “the global village” and “the medium is the message” he knew what was to come in our digital work, those to phrases say so much and are so on point without even having to further explain.
On pages 194-195 Powers explains what Mcluhan’s thoughts were on how we can get away from this technology and how to cut back on it. It was simple, we hold the power to do so, simply, as Mcluhan would say “live more consciously.” Many of us don’t realize we have a problem with technology so it never gets fixed, this is why I am glad I had the chance to read this book. Hamlet’s Blackberry has opened my eyes in so many ways! I noticed since starting this book I am not on my phone as much, I regulate my time because now that I noticed I was always on my cell phone texting and on different social networks I get overwhelmed sometimes if I spend too much time on it. We all need a break once in a while, we all have the ability to remove some of the clutter that technology brings in our mind…..we just need a wake up call.

Shakespeare on the Beauty of Old Tools

In chapter 8 of Hamlets Blackberry, William Powers explains the use of technology and moleskines. Moleskines are notebooks used for various things, journaling, grocery shopping lists, note taking, etc. Today the use of moleskines have died out because now we mainly use our cell phones to jot things down in the “Notes” app. Personally, I think using the moleskine notebooks are way better than using our cell phones to hold our information because then we can always go back years later to see what was going on with our younger selfs even though William Powers does make a good point about there being more easier, efficient ways to do so. His friend had the right idea because we can always go back to what is written on paper, our cell phones and tablets break and sometimes we are unable to get that information back.
Powers also talks about William Powers reference to the, “Distracted Globe.” The distracted globe was pertaining to three different things, the mind, the world, and the audience. In Hamlet, Shakespeare says, “Yea, form the table of my memory I’ll wipe away all trivial fond records, all saws of books, all forms, all pressures pasts, that youth and observation copied there, and thy commandment all alone shall live within the book and volume of my brain unmixed with baser matter.” When he says that he will wipe away all of the trivial fond records, the books, forms, and all of his troubles from the passed he  is talking about cleaning out his brain of all the messes and distractions of everyday things to be able to focus on just one thing.
I will admit this chapter was a bit confusing before talking it over with the class but I can say I truly enjoyed learning about Shakespeare’s ways.

The Spa of the Mind

In chapter 6, The Spa of the Mind, William Powers talks about how after a long day at work he would watch Jazz videos on YouTube to relax and unwind. We all have that get away we go to at the end of the day, maybe even the middle of the day if our day is that hectic. Do we every actually stay focused on that one get away or do we get distracted by other things? Of course it is easy to get distracted, just as Powers did when we wondered on to looking at advertisements and news headlines he really didn’t even need to know in the first place. Dealing with the internet it is so easy to get sucked in and side tracked by the different things that pop up, it’s even happening to me as I am typing this out.

My get away, as expected, is make up. Make up relaxes me completely and makes me forget about everything for awhile, I get into my zone. Although I would like to make a career out of it and it would then lead to me being very busy, I know I can always count on make up to be my get away. Very much like Seneca, writing was what kept him busy but he had also used writing to block everything out and focus on what really mattered to him! We all have a get away where we are able to step away from everything and “recharge” whether it be playing a sport, taking a walk, or reading a book.  That is what I liked so much about this chapter, it got more into disconnecting and finding oneself while doing so. Seneca teaches that there is more to life than just wanted to stay in the “loop,” we need to focus on keeping that strong peaceful connection with our inner self and focusing on the more important things in life because it is so easy to get caught up in it all.

Walking to Heaven

 

In Hamlets Blackberry, William Powers not only talks about his life and experiences with technology but also the lives of a few great philosophers. Chapter 5 focuses on Plato, the same way Powers has his “Internet Sabbath” Plato also practiced ways to stay connected with people but also took the time to take breaks from the to think from time to time. 
We all need a break once in a while and many of us don’t see it. We always wanted to be connected to find out what is happening next. In the book it is explained how “going outside the walls” would help with that break from people so they had time to themselves to think just as we should turn off our cell phones and computers to “go outside the walls.”
I think if we all kept the same mind set as all of these great greek philosopher then things would be more simple. Our communication skills would be so much better than they are now, we would actually be able to have conversations face-to-face with out any distractions because we would now how to keep that connection going without feeling the need to check out phones to respond to a conversation we are having with someone else via text message.
William Powers asks a very important question in this chapter, “When is the last time you went off with a friends and left the world behind?” This question really stood out to me. How many of us actually leave our cell phones behind when we are out with friends? not too many.. We are always taking a couple seconds out of a conversation or what ever activities we are doing with a friend to check out what is going on with Instagram or Facebook. To me it is really all unhealthy, it is also quite frustrating on how horrible all of our communication skills are getting. I am glad I am realizing this now and having a child soon because when my son is my age I will have had made sure he has it in him that he doesn’t need to always take his phone out, he needs to communicate face-to-face with no problem.

Gone over board!

In chapter 3, “Gone over board” it begins by telling us how William Powers had moved his family from Washington, D.C. to Cape Cod. Moving was fairly easy because him and his wife were both writers so they weren’t tied down to any specific job place. Keeping in touch with everyone wouldn’t be a problem either due to technology.
After getting settled and trying to back his boat up Powers ends up getting it stuck. Not knowing too much about boats he tries to fix it himself, in the process he ends up falling off his boat. In his pocket he had his wallet and cell phone, he didn’t panic too much until he realized they had gone into the water as well.
For some of us breaking or losing a cell phone isn’t about not having a cell phone for the time being but more about emails, phone numbers, and pictures that are lost. That’s how it was for Powers after freaking out about the phone being in water. He was mainly worried about everything he had just lost and couldn’t get back because he didn’t back his phone up. He then began to realize and feel almost relieved that he was “disconnect.” The problem now a days is that we are so afraid to be disconnected from everyone even if it’s just for a day, let alone a couple of hours. Personally, I think it is good to have that break from technology every once in a while, it’s healthy.

Hello Mother

In chapter two of Hamlets Blackberry we learn that William Powers mother lives two hours away in Massachusetts. When he travels he likes to fly in and out of a particular airport so he is able to visit his mother on both ends.  Chapter two also explains how easy it is for us to make a simple phone call to let someone know that we will either not be able to make it or that we will be a few minutes late. Take the time to imagine life without cell phones, these phone calls that take a couple seconds to make would turn into 10 minutes due to pulling over, finding change, making the call, getting back in your car, and getting back on the road again.
One of the sentences that really caught my attention was “It’s good to be connected, and it’s bad to be disconnected” I definitely agree. Although being away from ourself phones allows us “The Gap” we need every so often, we also need it to stay in touch with our loved ones when we like. Maybe if we managed our time better on the cell phones we wouldn’t have such a problem with them and we would have more time to get other tasks done and let our mind wonder freely without a little screen in our face all of the time.
This book is really teaching a lot and I cannot wait to read more and maybe apply some of the strategies that William Powers uses in my life.

Busy life

Are we really as busy as we say we are? Do we just like the it sounds to be able to say that? I feel as if most of us say we are busy but in reality it is just an excuse we tell people to get out of something. Then again there are people who love to be busy and actually do have a full schedule of things to do on a daily basis. The way William Power uses Marie as an example is great. Marie did not know english too well and went off of what she would hear from others all of the time. “Busy, very busy” too many of us say this, in a way I feel as if it stresses us out more by saying it than just getting the task done and a steady pace so that we have time to relax afterward. Many of us make things way harder and more stressful than they need to be, I know I do. We constantly do this because we have seen this occur over and over, we see it from our parents, teachers, friends, or other family members. We’ve learned how to automatically say we are “busy.”
On page 10 of Hamlets Blackberry, William Powers says, “What is the point, anyway? What’s the goal at the bottom of all this juggling and rushing around? It’s one of those questions you avoid thinking about because it’s so hard to answer” This is exactly what I was talking about, we make everything harder than it needs to be and we do it because we never actually take the time to think about why we do it, we just do. If we took that time instead of rushing everything I think that we would use the word busy a lot less. We would now how to manage our time and we would then be able to answer questions such as “what’s the point,” or “Is this the kind of life I really want?” Take a minute, are you one of those people?

 

Conundrum- a confusing and difficult problem or question

Pleasantry- an inconsequential remark made as part of a polite conversation

Staggering- walk or move unsteadily, as if about to fall

Essential- something that is absolutely necessary

Periphery- limits or edge

Bit- Player- actor with at least one line of dialogue

Preternatural- beyond what is normal

Frequency- something that is repeated

Perennially- repeatedly

Granualr- consisting of small grains