Living through this pandemic has only made it more difficult to resist the attention economy. Our only way of receiving information is reliant upon technology. Odell explains how the attention economy “keeps us from living the lives we want to live.” We see this today as we are now reliant upon technology even more; this allows us to easily meet people similar to us, but at the same time, we don’t easily get to meet people from different backgrounds. Technology today is made to recommend people to connect with that
are either near or similar to you. Our phones and computers track everything we do and create ads or friend requests based on our likes and tendencies. This holds us back from things outside our “personal brand”, blinding and distracting us from seeing the world outside our usual view. A solution to this issue includes a digital detox, where there is no technology, forcing independence from the screens to see the world through other means.
Many people in today’s society seek a digital detox after having their lives completely reliant on their phones, computers, cars, and other modern technologies. Odell describes “digital distraction as a bane, not because it made people less productive, but because it took them away from the one life they had to live.” Our lives revolve around our screens so much that we usually miss out on opportunities. We are able to see so much now on the internet that we don’t feel the need to even leave the house, especially because of Covid-19. We can see all the tropical places across the world, play a video game simulating a war, or keep up with the latest news all though our screens, without really experiencing any of these first-hand. There are many means that provide entertainment that dissuade us from taking advantage of opportunities just outside our front doors. The road we are currently heading down may be even worse than today; as technology advances, so will our way of viewing it and ignoring the real world.
Having our phones always with us has created an easy way to avoid face-to-face interactions. For example, in today’s age, it is so easy to be sitting at dinner with someone and avoid the awkward silence; you can just pull out your phone. This ultimately hurts the overall interaction because talking to someone with their face in their phone is very difficult. By being on their phone, they are not making eye contact so there is no real connection and way of knowing if they are truly listening. Even if they are listening, they are not truly hearing because they are multi-tasking. Odell mentions this when being reminded of Levi Felix’s narrative of digital detox camp later run by Smiley Poswolsky. People from all over came to this camp to get away from technology; their phones were taken away, so they were forced to survive by dealing with other people and nature directly. They agreed upon rules such as no technology, no stress, no anxiety, no FOMO, etc. They set up almost like a community at this camp. Although they didn’t stay there forever, they were able to get away from all the everyday stresses that are otherwise almost impossible to escape from and learn from the experience how gratifying it was.
Technology is becoming more advanced and we are becoming more addicted to it every day. We rely on technology to wake us up, keep us on schedules for our busy days, and sometimes even keep us alive. Although technology makes our lives easier, it also causes pain; it truly is addictive. Some people are so caught up in their phone they can be sitting next to someone and not even realize it or literally run into someone in the hallway. With this blindness to not only what is directly around them, they also miss the big picture on the world. They are unable to see the world from a different perspective without looking through their phone. As Odell said, “Lets not forget that, in a time of increasing climate-related events, those who help you will likely not be your Twitter followers; they will be your neighbors.” If we are always connected to our phones, we can go living in a community or neighborhood without even meeting our close peers.
We see some of this in our neighborhood, but there also those who make a point to connect to everyone. Our neighborhood has cook-outs in the summer where everyone bring something, to Halloween parties, Christmas decoration competitions, and even a few hikes in the winter. My parents borrow items from the neighbors when needed and often talk in the driveway after work. One of our neighbors moved from India a few years ago and we were invited to a religious ceremony in their house shortly after they moved in. Everyone was dressed in colorful robes and only spoke English around us. We went through every room in the house and then had dinner; I had never experienced anything like this and it was impressive. We interact with these neighbors frequently and I gained an insight into who they are through the ceremony.
If we do not move away from our screens, our views of the world differ on which videos we watch on the internet or what items we look at to buy. This shapes what else we see next on our phones and computer; I doubt I would ever have digitally experienced the neighbor’s religious ceremony because it was outside what I normally see. Technology today has software that tracks what pages you visit and based on that, create a list of other things you might want to view. As Odell said, “corporate platforms buy and sell our attention.” Because of this, we are unable to see the rest of the world; for example, we only see one side or part of the Internet that is shown or provided to us based of what we like. But if we were to look on someone else’s phone, preferably someone with different views or philosophies, we would see a whole different side to the Internet. The way the technology is provided today forces us into doubling-down on our way of thinking, unless we consciously change what we view.
I have also learned becoming connected to technology actually disconnects you from the present. Time can go by with you just staring at your screen while our time on this earth is ticking down. Personally, I have tried limiting myself staring at the phone and replacing it with talking to people and socializing in person face-to-face. This has been a struggle with quarantine, but living in a house with five other college students has helped me. By interacting with my room mates face-to-face, we build stronger connections than if we were to meet or chat with them over social media. I believe it is better to meet someone in person; you can truly get a perspective on the person’s feelings instead of behind a screen. Personally, I struggled with this issue by always being glued to my phone; over the past few years, I have worked on putting the phone in my pocket and talking to those around me. I am even able to see my progress as my phone will provide a notification every week telling me my daily usage hours; the lower the usage hours, the better I feel, as long as I use that time to directly interact with others.
Every summer, I go on my own “digital retreat” in the Adirondack mountains of New York and spend a week camping on a lake. I was allowed to bring my phone, but the catch was, there was no Internet. The only way to get a single bar was to climb up a nearby mountain. So, in the daytime, we would go out and explore the woods and at night we would sit around a fire and look up at the stars. I looked forward to this every year because as I got older, I could see the real significance of getting away from technology. During this week every year, I would feel no stress at all; I didn’t have to worry about school or texting or keeping up with social media. None of my normal life issues were there to bother me; I left them all at home. During this time away from technology, I was not forced to look at the same perspective of the Internet every day and I was not a prisoner to my phone. I did not have to fight the urge to check my phone every time it dinged with some unimportant message and was able to see the world as it was, not through a screen, but taking it in with my own two eyes. Being without my phone felt strange for the first few days; it both felt as if a weight was lifted off me and I was missing something at the same time. I’ll be honest; I was addicted to my phone and checked it constantly. This was bad and I needed a way to force myself away from it. But, after a few days in the mountains and seeing how peaceful it was to be without the phone, I came back with a whole new mentality. Although Odell mentions a digital detox as more of a lifestyle, I feel it would be impossible to do that in this day and age; I found only a week or a few days at a time were necessary. Upon returning home, and splurging on my phone for a time, I realized I wanted to try and stay away from my phone as much as possible and not return to my old ways. I didn’t want to feel attached or prisoner to my phone; instead, I wanted to see it as just an object to help me at times, nut not be all-consuming. Viewing it as an object allowed me to not see it as a “portal to thousands of other places” but as an accessory that I am able to have but don’t need. I believe I have set myself down the right path to succeed in this goal. Odell always returned to the Rose Garden as a way to keep up with her goal; I found success in taking 20 minutes everyday just to sit and close my eyes and calm my mind. Although 20 minutes is not a long time, it works for me personally and am able to relax with no strain on my brain or eyes.
In today’s quarantine life, we are faced with the difficult task of resisting the attention economy. Odell believed resisting the attention economy involved a resistance to change our social course. We have seen attempts of this in quarantine with the BLM and MeToo movements during the pandemic. Unfortunately, we are limited with what we can do for this change due to the issue of spreading covid-19. None of these movements speak of resisting the attention economy and how technology is hurting this resistance. Many people don’t see an issue in their technology use or if they do, they won’t do anything about it. More people need digital detox, especially now during this pandemic where we’re all stuck indoors. It has helped many, not only today, but also in the past, seek escape; whether it being a few days or a lifestyle change as Odell writes about. Technology can be helpful, but it can also be dangerous if we allow it to absorb and dictate who we are. In a dangerous way, technology can choose our friends, our feelings about the day, what we do, what we buy, and sometimes how we live; we can let technology control us and everything we do. We need to be aware we can all be prisoners to our phones if we allow it. Technology is everywhere; we cannot completely escape its influence in our daily lives. Our goal should be to realize its influence and set aside time to de-tox from its pervasiveness.
Jenny Odell also discussed “Old Survivor”, the oldest redwood tree in Oakland. It was neither the biggest nor the straightest redwood and it grew in a difficult-to-reach and not ideal location; however, these are the very reasons it was not cut down with all of the others. It was considered not worth the effort and therefore allowed to live in relative peace. What does that mean for today and how can we use this example? In our society today, everyone is pushed from an early age to excel and be the best. Some of my friends focused on playing soccer from the age of four and still did not make the high school team due to competition. They also missed many other opportunities along the way. Social media is always showing us how perfect everyone else is and pushes us along the same path, especially if there are any commercials and advertisements to show us how to improve. But what if we take the path of Old Survivor and stay under the radar? What if we always ask ourselves the question — what is the underlying goal of social media or this Internet site or this tweet? Is it for my best interest or is it for someone else’s? With that in mind, what if we purposely ignored many of the most exciting sites, tweets, click-baits, etc. and instead focused more on benefitted us rather than some other entity? We may start to fly under the radar of their algorithms and at least we will start to understand the addiction.
Jenny also mentions we see what we are trained to see and in most cases, not very much at all; especially with all of the artificial stimulation bombarding us on a daily basis. She mentions this throughout the book, with bird watching (bird noticing) and provides another example with rendering. Everything is in our vision, we just need to notice it, and most of the time, we only scratch the surface. A few years ago, my Uncle criticized the show Spongebob Squarepants; I liked the show and defended it because it was fun. He then told me the show was specifically designed to overwhelm our senses and mesmerize us. We watched a few episodes and I was surprised that while the show was on, I was completely absorbed and did not notice anything else happening around me. He was a fan of Looney Tunes and we watched a few of those cartoons as well. We spoke a number of times during the Looney Tunes shows and commented on Bugs Bunny. He then said he tried talking to me quietly during Spongebob, but I had not responded. It was almost scary how much Spongebob really captured my attention with so much going on continuously and I was not even aware of it until he told me.
Although I did not enjoy the book while reading it, I have thought about it after, especially the attention part and attempting to understand how rendering plays a part. Similar to bird noticing, I am taking some time to really look at something, especially outdoors. To pay attention to the way a tree moves in the wind; does it move the same way all the time or does it change based on how the other trees around it move? I have gone a few hikes at the local parks and try to imagine what the land looked like 50, 100 or 200 years ago. Who else may have traversed this ridge or looked from this point into the lake from that time? I am trying to focus my attention more to the things I want to focus on, not what someone else wants me to focus on. Spongebob was a lesson I could relate to. Before, I do not believe I noticed what was catching my attention, even during my annual digital detox in the mountains. I just allowed my attention to be taken by what was around me at that time. Now, I realize I only have so much attention and can only focus on some things, not everything; and I want to focus on what I want.
References
Pietrangelo, Ann. “What Are the Negative and Positive Effects of Technology?” Healthline, Healthline
Media, 23 May 2019, www.healthline.com/health/negative-effects-of-technology.
ODELL, JENNY. HOW TO DO NOTHING: Resisting the Attention Economy. MELVILLE House, 2020.
