Media Meditation #3: Crazy Eyes

If you can't tell, that's me

It's 10:00 p.m. I'm sitting here at my computer in the library, noticing first that I have now been here for four and a half hours, second that I haven't eaten since 2:00 p.m., and third, that I am tiring myself with web cruising, blog writing, and Facebook chatting. I have been staring at my 15" MacBook Pro screen for 4.5 hours straight (minus a 2 minute pee break at 8:54). What is this saying about my life? Furthermore, what is it saying about our lives as Americans?

This has been my evening. I guarantee that others are having this same experience right now. Just endless amounts of time staring at a screen, as time whizzes past, with no sense of personal interaction or bodily needs. It's like these 15 inches of light are going to burn themselves into my eyesight after a certain period of time, so that I can see my computer screen when my eyes are closed.

That having been said, lets examine a list of the things that I have accomplished in this relatively comfy chair in this 64.1 degree room:

• I have sent 9 emails to 5 different people
• I have written 2 blog posts
• I have developed a relationship with a friend with whom I have not conversed in 5 months, over Facebook chat
• I have coordinated the next week of my life, by planning out the tasks I need to complete by next Sunday night.
• I have learned a new Shepherd's Pie recipe
• I have researched and examined the plug-in components of Apple's Logic Pro
• and I have done all of this without touching a single piece of paper, without touching a phone, or without touching a pen

Who is winning now Charlie Sheen? Yes, maybe this particular blog post has gone awry because of this recent self-realization, but let us learn about ourselves from this habit. Are we slowly killing ourselves by spending so much time looking at a screen and so little time playing ultimate frisbee down at Callahan Park?

I don't have the answer to that question. I think we won't know the true answer for then next couple decades. What we do know, is that a lack of exercise will kill our bodies. We will rot in a pile of fat and bone if we don't exercise. But these machines are making us more productive than ever before. Could my father have told me, in 1961, when he was twelve years old, that we would be able to send mail to 5 different people, update our weekly planner, and learn how to cook dinner all on the same device in a matter of hours? I don't think so.

The down side? We go on a 4.5 hour internet binge and come out feeling like this...

And this is my Dad