The Internet in 2020
via intac.net
NileshBabu |
Visually delight stuff & some research in between |
Sleep well: A well-rested brain is less likely to be distracted. Eat well: Good nutrition is important to brain functionality. Minimize stress and anger: it tends to ramp up production of brain chemicals such as norepinephrine and cortisol, which can lead to problems. Watch out for time wasters: It's easy to fall down the rabbit hole while reading blogs (except this one of course) or online forums. Stay focused by setting time limits for online activity. Work smarter, not longer: If you're working too hard or long hours without a break, your brain will seek out diversions at some point — whether you want it to or not. Schedule breaks in advance; you're better off putting in six productive hours than of 10 hours of mindless search engine trolling or social networking.
Need to work on "Watch out for time wasters" & "work smarter, not longer"
I start with Plato's critique of writing where he says that if we depend on writing, we will lose the ability to remember things. Our memory will become weak. And he also criticizes writing because the written text is not interactive in the way spoken communication is. He also says that written words are essentially shadows of the things they represent. They're not the thing itself. Of course we remember all this because Plato wrote it down -- the ultimate irony.
We hear a thousand objections of this sort throughout history: Thoreau objecting to the telegraph, because even though it speeds things up, people won't have anything to say to one another. Then we have Samuel Morse, who invents the telegraph, objecting to the telephone because nothing important is ever going to be done over the telephone because there's no way to preserve or record a phone conversation. There were complaints about typewriters making writing too mechanical, too distant -- it disconnects the author from the words. That a pen and pencil connects you more directly with the page. And then with the computer, you have the whole range of "this is going to revolutionize everything" versus "this is going to destroy everything."
Fascinating read on evolution of writing / communication + impact & embracing the changes.
Between blogging and microblogging
