Dissociative reading hour

I just returned from a four-day music festival in the woods, an interesting blend of rugged wilderness living and ultra-high-tech music, lights, and art. The only reading materials that I brought were the books for my MLIS classes, in an attempt to keep myself on track, but the result was that I found myself sitting in the forest by the riverside, no computer in sight, reading "Google Apps Hacks." While this was an absolutely stunning place to read, it was also, if I may say so, an utterly terrible place to try to read a computer how-to book. What was I thinking?? I was left only with the vague sense that I might someday be able to make some cool spreadsheets and presentations, which mingled with the more concrete sense that I'd just like to go swimming.

In any case, my folly resulted in an interesting conversation when a Swarthmore professor from a neighboring tent noted my reading material and came by to talk with me about computer technology, grad school, software, social constructs of "geekiness," and other such topics. He recommended the book "Beautiful Code," which I'll have to look into when I have a free moment.

Free moment? Ha. Ha. Tomorrow morning I'm flying to Los Angeles, and a couple of days later to Australia -- a trip planned long before I'd seen my summer semester schedule -- but I'll do my best to keep on top of the coursework. My poor blog... I keep meaning to give it more thorough treatment! Ah, well. I'll be listening to some LIS2600 podcasts en route to L.A....

I have become cyborg.

It's a strange feeling to have spent so much time indoors tapping into cyberspace on so many consecutive sunny summer days. Between my two distance-learning MLIS classes and my online editing job, it feels like I'm constantly typing, clicking, scanning, and linking. Even on the last couple of days when I've sat outside to read, my reading material has been Discovering Computers, which makes me feel like I'm online.

I do believe that all this connectivity is affecting the way I think, as well. The more technology evolves, the more it infiltrates our own malleable brains. It's part enhancement, part infestation, part mystery. I read a really interesting article about this phenomenon today:

What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains

I can feel the phenomena discussed in the article: I sometimes rely on silicon memory as much as my own; often my concentration doesn't feel as intense as it once might have been; multitasking is a way of life. In casual conversation, when near my laptop, I'm wont to say things like, "That reminds me of... wait, who was the 'reciprocal altruism' guy? ... [Quickly googling "reciprocal altruism" author] ... right, Robert Trivers!" And although I'm glad for the memory boost, I'm unlikely to read a whole article that turns up. But I truly appreciate that I have the option to read not just one but 137,000 pages that pop up instantly!

I'll end this post by embedding my favorite music video, which has everything to do with the way information and technology are saturating our lives today.



(Royksopp: Remind Me)