David Murdock Column: On a simpler life (while still loving tech)
Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about living a simpler life. Not a simple life, but a simpler life than the one I lead now. Here’s the weird thing about my longing for a simpler life: I’m basically thinking of what my life was like before the internet and cellphones. That’s what I mean by “living a simpler life.” I’m not thinking of going “off the grid” or anything.
The other odd thing about my longing for a simpler life is that so many of my friends — when they hear me say something like that — assume that I’m anti-tech. That couldn’t be farther from my true attitude. Actually, I love tech. It’s just that we seem to have forgotten that tech exists to serve us, to make our lives easier. Lately, it seems to me that it hasn’t been doing that simple task.
I knew that something was up that one day years ago when I left the house without my cellphone … and turned around and went back to get it! I was just going downtown on a short errand and would have been home within 30 minutes. Surely, I could have made that journey without my cellphone. Nope! Had to go back. That episode got me thinking.
My generation is usually referred to as “digital immigrants.” In other words, we didn’t grow up with the level of tech that the kids today did. They’re usually termed “digital natives” — they’ve always had a cellphone and really wouldn’t know what to do without one. I remember a time without cellphones.
They text so easily that it’s a part of their life experience. They don’t know what it’s like not to text. Excessive texting greatly annoys me. If a text conversation goes on for more than about five texts, back and forth, it’s easier for me to call. And calling greatly annoys these digital natives. It’s far easier for them to text.
In fact, lots of digital natives now consider email to be old-fashioned and inefficient. For me, email is still somewhat miraculous. However, I’m almost always going to email someone from an actual keyboard instead of trying to use my cellphone. Keyboards are simply more comfortable for me to use.More than once lately, I’ve heard someone my age say that the most useful class they took in high school was typing. That’s certainly true for me, even if I don’t use half the things I learned in my two years of high school typing classes.
Now, here’s where I’m sort of weird about my love of tech. I do have an e-reader, an Amazon Kindle, to be exact, and I love it. Only in specific ways, though. I read my Kindle pretty much only in bed, and I read it only for “entertainment” novels. If there’s a book that I really want to absorb and digest, I buy a physical copy. There has been some research that indicates reading on a digital screen results in less comprehension and retention of information, but I’m skeptical. That might only apply to digital immigrants, not digital natives.
Will I give up my Kindle in my search for a simpler life? Most assuredly not. That thing is near-miraculous to me. There are all sorts of books to be had for free on it, and a lot of the books in which I’m interested are less expensive in the Kindle version.
However, there’s nothing quite like being able to thumb through a physical book. That remark I made about Kindle books being less expensive does not usually apply to current bestsellers, either, which are often more expensive in their e-versions. However, tapping that “Buy Now” tab is always a temptation, especially since the Kindle version will appear near-instantaneously.
So, I really do mean “simpler,” not “simple.” The big snag with leading a simpler life — and I assume that it’s a bigger snag for those trying to lead a simple life — is that trying to simply one’s life is downright inconvenient. However, the internet is there to help. hat cracks me up.
That’s right — the one medium where I find the most help in trying to simplify my life is the internet. There are all sorts of websites dedicated to simplifying one’s life. Ironically, there seems to be quite a bit of agitation on the internet about ridding ourselves of the internet.
Am I going to stop using the internet? Of course not. That tech, too, is near-miraculous for this aging digital immigrant. It’s astounding … as long as I limit my time there.
I don’t know how many times I’ve lost an hour because I thought, “I’m just going to check my email.” There is no such thing as “just checking email” — that beast is as mythical as dragons and unicorns. Checking my email almost always leads to touring the internet in a general sense, so my quest for the simpler life will have to start by simply not going from email specifically to the internet generally.
Here’s my first test — I have to email this column to The Gadsden Times. Will I be able to resist the urge to look around the internet? Honestly, I don’t know, but I need to try.
David Murdock is an English instructor at Gadsden State Community College. He can be contacted at murdockcolumn@yahoo.com. The opinions reflected are his own.
This article originally appeared on The Gadsden Times: David Murdock looks at balancing simpler life, love of tech
