No, I'm not having sex in the bathroom, but I am blogging from 30,000 feet. Virgin America has wireless internet these days so I'm trying it out. I'm titillated at the whole scenario--staring out at the clouds, having my little cup of coffee, and blogging away. Another part of me is resistant. I do a lot of traveling and plane rides have always been one time when I'm disconnected. I get great reading and reflecting done.

Reminds me of an interesting issue that came up, both this weekend at the Omega conference and yesterday when I gave a talk at the Girls Scout Research Institute: information overload. In a world where there is way more access to news and opinion than ever before, how do we protect ourselves psychologically and lead healthy lives?

I think so much of it comes down to self-awareness. We can't act like media or technology are happening to us, but instead be tuned in to how we feel and intentional about how we consume. For example, if I knew that I needed an internet break to be a balanced person, I wouldn't have logged on. (As it is, I had a computer coma on my hands the past few days so it feels great to have a working laptop and wifi again.)

I'm also confident that we're entering a new phase in the internet when the focus will be on curating all this volume we've come to produce. Pat Mitchell, facilitator of the panel I was on at Omega asked a great question: "How do we make sure the curators are at least 50% women?" I don't have an easy answer (other than support the women curators already working on making the internet a less sexist environment), but I'm excited to continue to explore it.

2 Comments

September 17, 2009 4:08 PM

[0+]  Comrade Kevin said:

This reminds me of the brain studies which have been done that assert that constant stimulation by way of electronic devices is a reinforcing behavior. Being constantly plugged in and wired causes a short-term boost of dopamine, which is the same boost we get from smoking a cigarette.

Again, the aphorism "in all things moderation" might be the best approach. We are frequently inundated with messages that tell us that excess in all things is what we really need and this is when our self-awareness is desperately needed the most.

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September 18, 2009 10:39 AM

[0+]  Liza said:

...or having sex in the bathroom while blogging?

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