Yes, we have an addiction... now what?

It's clear that we are addicted to technology, but what are we supposed to do about it? Let's look at some ways people deal with other addictions:

Cold turkey: We could remove technology from our lives completely, just cut it out and never look back. But, our society is completely dependent on it, so there is no way that cutting ourselves off would do any good. All that would do is put us at a complete disadvantage for grad schools and jobs. Not to mention technology is everywhere and understanding it and using it has become essential for survival. It would be like trying to get over alcoholism in the worlds best stocked bar... So, that option is a negative.

Group therapy: Considering that there are no help groups for technology addiction, I am thinking this isn't going to work. Looks like we won't be standing in front of a group of people glued to their iPhones and Blackberrys to say "Hi, my name is Meghan and I am a technology addict."

Pills and patches: I can't even figure out how that would work...

Aversion therapy: Electric shocks when you get near a piece of electronics? Wouldn't that be using technology??

Maybe technology addiction isn't something we should be getting over... maybe we need to approach this a different way...

Perhaps instead of figuring out how to reduce our addiction to technology we should be looking at increasing our knowledge of other things. Ah, there it is. Here is my solution, if you can call it that. Use technology, but also, learn how to do things the old fashion way. Learn how to use books and magazines to do research. Learn how to start a fire without a lighter and a fire starting log. Learn how to do math without a calculator, if you could do it in elementary school you should be able to do it now. Read a book instead of just reading Sparknotes. Take a walk instead of a drive. Learn how to talk to people face-to-face instead of texting. You get the idea...

If you know how to do things the easy way (with technology) and the hard way (without technology), then you won't have to worry if the power goes out for a couple of days because of a storm. Not to mention, you will be the most popular person during that storm!!

Technology is not flawless, but the more you know and the more ways you know how to do the same thing the better of you will be. If one method fails you know you have more ways to approach it.

In summary: Be as addicted to technology as you want, just don't be DEPENDENT on it.

Put in your iPod, tune out the world

I have noticed more and more people around campus putting their iPod in the second that they get out of class. To me this seems strange. I understand the love of music, but it always seemed a little rude to me. Do we need to block out the world immediately when we leave the classroom or step out anywhere we may have to interact with people?

I understand the use of an iPod on a walk or run. I understand listening to music in the car. I understand using an iPod when studying. What I don't understand is why it is necessary to have the iPod in to walk three minutes to class. Are we really that afraid that we will have to say hi to someone? Apparently, seeing as a good deal of people put in the headphones, put their head down and go.

Take out the earbuds. Listen to the leaves crunch. Say hello to friends that you walk by. Pay attention to the world around you. Who knows, you may like what you hear.