Leaving The Internet
Leaving the Internet in this day and age is almost impossible. In class we read a piece about a man leaving the Internet and documenting what it was like. Here's what I thought
The prep work consisted of determining the rules that Thurston would follow during his detox. He would not be able to use his phone for anything other than personal calls and texts, there was to be no business work during this break from the internet. Him and his “chief of staff”, Julia made a list of important people who would be notified about his departure from the internet. On his last day before his personal vacation he disconnected everything from his phone.
Day one of his detox did not go as planned. He overslept and because of this he did not rent his Zipcar. He decided to head to the local farmers market to buy some fresh vegetables. He Thurston talks about what he would have done if he had his phone. He usually would have checked his email and read his texts, but because he was missing his phone he actually talked and socialized with the people around him.
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Connecting with my friends was not the only thing I realized happened without my phone. I noticed how beautiful the world around us when we are not glued to our phones, taking pictures for our Snapchat Stories, or posting updates on Facebook. The trip was a adventure throughout all of Ireland. We saw towering mountains at the Cliffs of Moher on a hike along the entirety of it. I was able to take in the views of the sprawling Atlantic Ocean atop the cliffs.
Along our walk I noticed the wild horses roaming the fields leading up to the cliffs. Along with the beautiful countryside came the medieval castles that towered over the small towns below them. I learned about the architecture and why it was built the way it was. While the countryside was gorgeous and gave a great escape from technology, the big towns are where I really appreciated not having my phone. Seeing the different architecture of Irish buildings was truly eye opening because I was not glued to my phone trying to take pictures of everything. When we went to the pubs at night I actually socialized with the people around me. Being social in a foreign country really opened my eyes to the difference in cultures around the world. I learned new etiquette in Ireland such as how to greet people and only driving one way on certain roads. I learned what a good time is called in Celtic and that is “craic”. |
At the end of his detox he wrote down the realizations he had while being away from the internet. Thurston had realized how addicted he had become to the feeds, sources, and information. He was constantly checking for the latest news which took him out of the world around him. He also realized that he had become addicted to himself. He was always looking to post the latest thing he had done or thought he needed to constantly update people on where he is and take a picture every time to post for all his followers. Finally he had forgotten what it was like before social media. He had missed the silence and disengagement that comes along with not constantly checking your phone. At the end of Thurston’s detox he decided that taking a break from social media is always needed because it allows us to make deeper connections with the people and world around us.
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Not having my phone in Ireland was a little different of an experience than it was on Kairos. I focused more on the beauty of the world rather than the human connection because I already knew the people I was with. I was able to look at the different architecture and focus on how life was different in a new country. If I had my phone on me constantly I would have taken pictures and been able to look at the beauty when I got home, but that would not have been the same as taking it in in person.
Taking a break from the constant barrage of likes, friend requests, and notifications enables us to interact with the people and places in our world. It allows us to communicate face to face with the people around us and make those connections that we so often miss out on due to being glued to our phones all the time. We can truly take in the beauty of our world instead of taking pictures solely to post on various social media accounts. Every now and then we should all decide to take a detox from the stress that social media puts on us.
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Thurston had realized how addicted he had become to the feeds, sources, and information. Leaving the internet for days a time in this day and age is almost unheard of. I am constantly reaching for my phone, checking for new notifications, and taking pictures looking to share them with anyone and everyone. We are just too connected. Getting away from our phones can be a huge benefit to our health. It would us interact with people better and become more connected as people, not just text on a screen.
There have been two times in my cell-phone owning life that I have gone without my phone for more than a couple of hours. The first time was a retreat that lasted for ten days and every senior at my high school goes on it. The retreat is called Kairos and is all about connecting with yourself and the people around you. You are required to turn in your phone at the beginning of the trip in order to actually talk face to face with the people in your small group. My small group consisted of six other students in my grade, who I until that point I had never interacted with in or outside of school. We had three small group talks a day and the group leader had prompts that would get us to start telling others about ourselves. Questions ranged from our least favorite foods to what scares us the most in the world. The answers varied widely too. Some people said they hated broccoli, and others said chocolate. Some people are afraid of getting a bad grade, while others were afraid of becoming nothing in the world. We learned so much about each other in those ten days and I believe that it was because we did not have our phones with us. I learned what were some people’s biggest accomplishments. I learned how some people loved to get every accomplishment in a video game, while others were proud of how many goals they have scored. Not having our phones allowed us to connect with not only the world around us, but the people who we would have never otherwise talked to.
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The Cliffs of MoherHorses we saw along the hikeHills in the country side of Ireland |
leaving_the_internet.docx |