Basic Human Nature

In my essay, I am trying to show how Bartleby contrasts with Jenny Odell in his decision to retreat from society.  Bartleby is a scribe and copies documents for his employer who is a lawyer.  This takes place in the 19th century, so in fact, Bartleby is a human copy machine.  At first he is enthusiastic and diligent about his work, but gradually he feels dehumanized and discouraged.  When the lawyer asks him to do something, Bartleby consistently replies, “I would prefer not to.”  The scribe falls victim to his own depressed attitude and does nothing to find happiness in his life.  Eventually he is imprisoned and dies of starvation.  I used this example to contrast his pessimistic, passive, and joyless mindset with that of Odell.  While Odell finds fault with society and technology, she is also optimistic and an activist.  She finds beauty and meaning in nature and realizes that people must be determined in their search for meaning in life.  Instead of giving up and giving in, like Bartleby, Odell looks for opportunities to find a sense of purpose that will provide the satisfaction she is looking for.  

The quote from Bartleby, “I would prefer not to” has made me think carefully about its real meaning.  At first I cheered the scribe on, thinking that he was making a choice not to be dehumanized.  However, the more I researched, reflected, and compared this quote to the message of Jenny Odell, the less sympathetic I felt for Bartleby.  Life is made up of doing the things we do not like to do, as well as those we enjoy.  To accept responsibility, even if it is not always pleasant, is coming to grips with one’s maturity.  Growing up and becoming an adult involves work and assuming the consequences of one’s behavior.  The tone of Bartleby is not just dark, but immature.  By the time I finished writing this piece, I was almost annoyed with the scribe for his pessimistic views. Clearly, Melville’s character was depressed, and depression is a serious emotional illness.  However, I also think that it is crucial for people to have a more positive attitude.  This does not mean that I am not sympathetic, but I do feel that playing the role of a victim, saying “I prefer not to” cuts off a person’s options.  We have to TRY things and be willing to have new experiences in order to grow.  What if Babe Ruth had been lazy and uninspired when someone asked him to play baseball?  What if he had said, “ I prefer not to?”  To me, everyone should take a chance, maybe saying instead, “I may prefer not to right now, but I will do it anyway!”

https://ngs-4136.medium.com/basic-human-nature-944b1360aacc

Technology Addiction

View at Medium.com

https://medium.com/@spencers_9556/technology-addiction-906e0f35a5a4

When reading Odell how to do nothing, I couldn’t help but think about how she talks about how important it is to get away from technology. Especially in this day and age where we are barely able to leave our houses and stuck to a screen all day doing school work. Covid 19 has trapped us causing us to become more dependent on technology more than ever, now we need it just to communicate to others without the danger of spreading the illness. 

Odell talks about a digital detox she took to a cabin for a weekend and speaks of the impact it had on her. I have gone through the same experience but in a longer period and found multiple benefits from it. I go into detail how this “retreat” has changed me and how I look at my phone and other electronics. Without technology we can focus on other things and relieve the stress of being held hostage to our phones and other technologies. Hopefully my essay will inspire you to try and change the way you live your everyday life so you don’t have to be so “addicted” to our electronics. 

Writing 4: Forwarding or Countering Odell

           As the title says, Jenny Odell is trying to tell us how to do nothing as a form of activism. This irony is a big part of her book because this in part causes us to resist the “attention economy” she talks about. A lot of people are more focused on productivity and an environment that takes advantage of our attention for their own uses such as big corporations. She wants us to take back our attention and see the world around us. It’s to ask ourselves what productivity is and to see who we really are. It’s to enjoy life to the fullest and learn about resistance. Taking control of your attention can mean “the discovery of new worlds and new ways of moving through them.” Thought, a lot of people do this as a detox already so they will be able to get back to work more productively after a refreshed mind. Odell doesn’t believe in this and wants us to be in the middle of reality without disturbances that can divert our attention from life, such as cell phones. Odell says there was a camp in Cambodia that acted as an escape, but this camp eventually went from learning a “healthier relationship” with technology to something like a “corporate retreat.” It goes against a lot of what the original owner of the camp stood for where he wanted people to have a “reevaluation of one’s priorities.” Odell only wants us to learn the art of doing “nothing” for the betterment of the people and environment.

            Odell has a lot of valid points that I agree with, but her points don’t apply to everyone. Everyone has their own form of escape and way to live life. She probably realizes this and made this book a lot more for the people who need a better experience of life. Though, getting away from technology isn’t always the answer. Our world has become heavily technology dependent, but there are beautiful and amazing things that can be done with technolog which can be used as a form of escape too. There are people that are too technology dependent, but to get away from that, they do need to first make the decision to start living for themselves before they can actually start doing it. This is a hard decision for people who are used to it. Humans have always liked sticking to the norms so making this decision is the first step to even diverting their attention towards something new. Diverting one’s attention requires a person to have an interest in something in the first place. They need to have an interest in the outside world to be able to see what it’s really all about. As she quotes from Epicurus, all over the world, “you can find men who live for empty desires and never have an interest in the good life.” As a result, a lot of people don’t even know what they have. People need to look around them, make the decision on what is the good life for them, and stick with it. It all depends on where one’s interest is and if they can act on it. Most people need a push in the right direction to actually do it and come upon certain realizations. Odell’s book can be just that for many.

            In the past, I’ll have to admit, I was subjected to doing what is considered to be “normal” due to social media and society itself. A lot of these times, my life was just flipping through a book, just waiting for an interesting chapter or page to pop up until it gets to the end. Only recently, I began to take my life into my hands to make the most of it. A lot of my failures have been the causes of realizations such as not meeting people’s, society’s, and my own expectations. Also, it comes from insecurities and not being able to act on certain things. It just causes unnecessary stress that definitely needs to be removed. Instead, I have looked at it more as what I can do for myself and the world around me. This is a point that hits home for a lot of people reading Odell’s work. That includes starting to living in the present and taking any opportunities to make one’s life better and more fulfilling. So far, this book may have made me to look at myself even more and to want to spend more time on seeing the world around me. Getting to one’s self turns out to take a lot more time than one might think. Hopefully we can all see what really makes us happy one day and act upon it.

Social Media and Politics

Unlike the first chapter Odell expands her ideas and concepts beyond the self-care. She writes more about the technological, political, and economical. aspect of the world. As Odell mentions in chapter two there are significant impacts of technological development on human life and the development of societies. Technological development has brought more levels of well-being to humans in various educational, practical, and industrial. She explained that the technology. that there are many negatives of technology used and risks on the individual and society. She emphasizes that loss of dependency and freedom. Which means that the more individuals who depend on computers and different types of technology, the heavy reliance on technology they will be a weakness and makes them less independent and free. Which is totally true for example, when I was in Yemen, I did not use much technology, during that time I was living during time where I felt more independent and freer. However, when I moved to America and start reliant on technology, I realized that many of the choices I made are always influenced by social media and technology. Also, an Odell said during the political elections, social media played an important rule on convincing people to vote for specific political party.

 In addition to technology Odell talks more about politics and economical influence that it makes to individuals’ life. According to Odell, “Unfortunately, she concludes, “the hallmark of all such escapes is rule, that is, the notion that men can lawfully and politically live together only when some are entitled to command and the others forced to obey”(Chapter 2, beginning). Policies controls everything, thus the idea of just creating an environment in which a person is free it impossible. There is no place in the world today where people can go and life peacefully and free for many reasons and the biggest in politics. Odell says, “Politics necessarily exist between even two individuals with free will; any attempt to reduce politics to design (Thiel’s “machinery of freedom”) is also an attempt to reduce people to machines or mechanical beings. So, when Thiel writes of “new technologies that may create a new space for freedom,” I hear only an echo of Frazier: “Their behavior is determined, yet they’re free.” (Chapter 2 mid). Adding to Odell saying, political environment today will not leave those who want to be free from economical control and technology. They would do things such as killing them or forcing international laws that will cause problems to them. Politics want to keep people productive any busy is they leave these people alone that will encourage more people to do the same. Which is something the countries will not want their citizen to do. Additionally, Odell provide examples of philosophers who apply the idea of political freedom. Also, a previous experience of history where people movements of getting away from society and doing their own thing fail.  Odell points out at Robert Houriet talks when he spoke about the reasons that caused these communes to fail.

Odell also explains that although we all want to be free of social media and economical influence we cannot escape. We can take a break for couple of days, but we cannot escape forever. Odell states, “Given the current reality of my digital environment, distance for me usually means things like going on a walk or even a trip, staying off the Internet, or trying not to read the news for a while. But the problem is this: I can’t stay out there forever, neither physically nor mentally. As much as I might want to live in the woods where my phone doesn’t work, or shun newspapers with Michael Weiss at his cabin in the Catskills, or devote my life to contemplating potatoes in Epicurus’s garden, total renunciation would be a mistake. The story of the communes teaches me that there is no escaping the political fabric of the world (unless you’re Peter Thiel, in which case there’s always outer space). The world needs my participation more than ever. Again, it is not a question of whether, but how.” (chapter 2, ending). This really important paragraph in which Odell talk about activism. She tells the reading that we have to come back to the digital world help make an impact. Do we  can to make an impact and the first thing we should do it changing ourselves first.

Escape from Technology

Odell said getting away from technology is now considered a “life hack”. This is true, today’s day and age everything revolves around technology. We need our phones everyday to stay in touch with people and do work. Especially today with most people working from home we would be unable to do our school work without computers and our phones. But looking at your phone all day is bad for you physically and mentally. We’ve become too attached to your phones, we can’t even leave the house without them. When we go for a two minute car ride we have to pick songs and play them to keep us entertained. And looking at your phone all day is not good for your eyes. These screens project blue light which strains our eyes causing headaches and migraines. Not to mention many of us look at our phones right before we go to bed which causes us to take extra time for us to fully fall asleep. Getting away from technology is almost a gift nowadays. Whether that just be going for a walk outside or just closing your eyes for a minute. We need these breaks during the day so our eyes and brain can relax and get away from our technology. This technology also has changed our mindset. We are so used to always being entertained by something on our phone or video games. So when something happens in real life that is not entertaining we lose interest to it and go back to just looking at our phones. The issue is getting worse everyday with new inventions coming out and people seeking more ways to stay entertained. Sometimes we need to step back and look at the world from a different point of view. 

I find this thought of being so attached to technology truly horrifying, because it is true. Odell talked about Levi Felix who stated,”I’d like to see more people looking into people’s faces instead of looking at their screens” which in today is a big issue. When talking to people it is so easy to escape the conversation and just look at your phone. It is very hard to keep a conversation going when someone has their nose in their phone. Everyone says this all the time but no one actually does anything to truly change it. This issue is getting worse with the next generation growing up with more technology and missing out on opportunities. For example I have a little cousin about 10 years younger than me. At his age I was always outside playing with my neighbors. But he plays on his phone all day looking through the internet or playing games. 

I’ve seen this issue in my own life, I’ll be sitting at the dinner table with my family or friends and everyone will just be looking at their phones and you don’t even realize it. This is why everyone should have a place to go to get away from technology. Odell used her cabin as an example, with no wifi or access to the internet. Although she said it took her 20 minutes to calm down the pay off was incredible she found peace away from technology. Personally I used to love going to the adirondacks in New York every summer. There are small towns everywhere and very little service so phones are practically useless. There are a number of lakes and you’re just surrounded by wilderness. There are no technology distractions you are cut off from the internet and connecting with the people not directly with you. The only way to get good service is to climb a high peak(mountain), but these are no normal walks, these are taxing hikes. They can take a few hours to climb but at the top you are gifted with a scenic view of the land around you and of course cell service. But when at the top the view is so breathtaking cell service becomes irrelevant. During the times away from the internet you get to see how beautiful the world is because you’re no longer face down in your phone and you get to socialize with people face to face. Seeing pictures of national parks like yellowstone and seeing them in person are tremendously different. Taking it in with your own eyes will always beat looking at your phone screen.

Digital Unplug

A digital detox is thought of as a “life hack” to be refueled and active when you return back to your normal life. If someone were to do this persistently it would be unrealistic for that person because it, “doesn’t just neglect our responsibility to the world that we live in, it is largely unfeasible, and for a good reason” (30). Although Odell is trying to steer us away from the attention economy she is practical in the sense that a person cannot wholly unplug and leave their responsibilities. She is neither anti nor pro-technology she wants people to learn that there is a life outside of it and so much can be learned when you step away from a screen. She described this when she talks about Levi Felix’s “Camp Grounded” that was made for people to take a step back and digitally detox, but he also knew how insensible it was. He thought that people, “could at least learn a healthier relationship to it” (31). Odell could have listed every reason why a person should stop using technology completely, but she is knowledgeable about what life is like now and it would be unrealistic for her to tell everyone to move far away and never use technology ever again. In reality, there are only a few parts of this country that a person could go to without being surrounded by digital media. Instead, what Odell is really preaching is the act of doing nothing for a period of time, to relax and realize that technology isn’t everything and that we don’t need to keep up with our addiction to it. 

I have never purposely staged a digital detox, but the closest I have been is with my annual family vacation to a lake New Hampshire. This has been my family’s spot for 50 years and when each kid in the family is old enough, they are brought to Marywood. With each generation that is brought, you can clearly see the technological divide. My cousins and I come from very media and technology-centered areas, so when we drive down the dirt road and lose service for the next 5 days we often don’t know what to do with ourselves.  Odell explains that in her accidental detox she noticed that, “[her] phone appeared as an object; it was no longer a portal to a thousand other places, a machine charged with dread and potentiality, or even a communication device. It was just a black metal rectangle” (31). This made me think about the difference between “that-it-is,” something that just exists, and “what-it-is,” its meaning for existence due to culture. In actuality, a phone is just a black box but we think of it as infinite things. It is a connector to the world in more ways than just making phone calls. With the touch of a button, we can find out news from all over the world or post pictures to thousands of people to see from the comfort of their own home. When I am at home my phone is this connector to the outside world and I am constantly on it, but when I am in New Hampshire it starts becoming the “that-it-is” version. Instead of Snapchatting all of my friends before I go to bed, my black box sits uselessly waiting for the next day when I can get 5 minutes of service. The grandkids, including myself, my sisters, and cousins often dwell on the fact that people from our home towns would be on a fancy vacation while we are in the middle of the woods at a random lake. Odell adds that “Stupid fools are those who are never satisfied with what they possess, but only lament what they cannot have” (35).  Instead of any complaints, we should be grateful for the privilege we have at home and take that time to unwind and relax from our lives that always seem to be so busy.  Throughout our week there we start to distance ourselves from our phones without even noticing just because we are so busy all day. It becomes a week to soak in nature and appreciate the little things, as corny as it sounds. We get to talk to our grandparents about their life stories, try new water sports, laugh together at dinner every night, and so much more. But as Odell said, “I knew I eventually needed to return home, where the world waited and the real work remained to be done” (31).

Unplug From Technology

The constant feeling of pulling out your phone to check notifications, email friends, even tweet about the latest world event. You feel the need to stay on top of everything. And you’re still trying to live your life happy. Odell’s idea of “unplugging from technology” is something that has really stood out to me throughout her book so far. She starts off Chapter 3 with stating “If doing nothing requires space and time away from the unforgiving landscape of productivity, we might be tempted to conclude that the answer is to turn our backs to the world, temporarily or for good” (30). The response to this would be unimaginative. Odell explains how this would be detoxing from life and saying goodbye to it all to increase our productivity. Making this permanent decision wouldn’t just neglect our responsibility to the world that we live in; it is largely unfeasible, and for a good reason (30). Digital detoxing will enable one to spend time on what actually makes them happy. Odell explains that she had accidentally planned herself a digital detox retreat. She was “leaving” and starting over. Odell goes onto explain, her solitary trip to the Sierra Nevada to work on a project. Upon arrival, she realized she booked a cabin with no cell reception or Wi-Fi. Odell stresses how unprepared she was. “I hadn’t told people I would be offline for the next few days, hadn’t answered important emails, hadn’t downloaded music” (30). This unexpected change had Odell freaking out, but quickly adjusting and not caring. It’s fascinating to see how fast a phone appears as a just object; a black, metal rectangle. From a new perspective, Odell noticed she was diligently working on her project without being distracted by light up notifications on her phone screen (31). On the specific camp ground she was on there was actually a set of rules campers had to agree to. The rule I found most interesting was FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out). This would a be a huge adjustment for most people, but you can’t have fear away from technology. Instead of technology, people did activities like cuddle therapy, yoga, carving, stand-up comedy, and archery (32). Unplugging from technology is so important, this experience can definitely change someone. Jenny Odell says how beneficial her trip ended up being in this “other world”, it just requires a lot of planning.

Comparing Odell’s situation to something I have seen recently is people getting paid one thousand dollars to digitally detox in an RV. Many Americans have already gotten the itch to get outside, causing RV sales and rentals to skyrocket in 2020. This challenge is one random winner getting paid one thousand dollars to give up technology for a weekend and camp in an RV at a US national park. The winner gets paid four-hundred dollars upfront and the remaining six-hundred upon completion. It sounds pretty easy until you think to yourself “When was the last time I went 48 hours without checking my phone?” I personally would really like to try this and escape from normalcy. This is an opportunity to encourage you to step away from technology and connect with the world; Like Odell says connect with your surroundings and nature.

Discovering the Attention Economy

When I opened this book and read what Odell was saying I had to pause and first figure out, what is the attention economy? After some research on the internet I found that the attention economy is something that I am so used to, I didn’t even realize it was there. When I see an ad on Instagram for something based on a picture I just liked, that is the attention economy. The ad that plays before every Youtube video is the attention economy. The internet is monopolized by three companies: Google, Apple, and Facebook. But Google, Apple and Facebook don’t care about you as a person; they care about their revenue. This means they care about holding your attention. Their ultimate aim is to keep you scrolling and searching, using their products over competitors. Odell’s project is “a guide to doing nothing as an act of political resistance to the attention economy.”

Odell believes very strongly in the immoral monopoly that is social media. She also is very anti-capitalism. She believes that these two things are draining the life out of us. She uses a quote from Seneca that reads, “Look back in memory and consider… how many have robbed you of life when you were not aware of what you were losing, how much was taken up in useless sorrow, in foolish joy, in greedy desire, in the allurement of society, how little of yourself was left to you; you will perceive that you are dying before your season!” She connected this to not only spending your day on facebook, but also connected it to our society and how in a time where intelligent conversations are key, we find ourselves unable to achieve those crucial in-person conversations. 

Odell’s purpose is to fight this way of life. How does she want us to fight? By doing nothing. Now doing nothing is not like it seems. She describes her “nothing” as a plan of action. In the introduction she says, “ The point of doing nothing, as I define it, isn’t to return to work refreshed and ready to be more productive, but rather to question what we currently perceive as productive.” To me, she is trying to get her readers to look at life through a different lens. We are so comfortable with the life we live we never stop to question it. We let social media control our lives for what reason? To conform to society. Odell believes that the world we live in now due to the culture of Trump is “impatient with anything nuanced, poetic, or less-than-obvious” and social media is a big contributor to that. Individuality is frowned upon. The more you are like everyone else, the more people like you. The more people like you, the more followers you have on social media.  

Odell uses personal stories to try to get us to understand where she is coming from. She tells us personal stories and then connects them to her beliefs. She tells us a detailed story about a tree called “Old Survivor” that she connects to resistance and being rooted to your true self, which are both linked to her doing nothing philosophy. 

Throughout the first chapter she also talks about a rose garden. The part about the rose garden that really impacted me was when she was in the middle of this beautiful space, surrounded by every color, sight, and smell. In this moment she said, “I look down at my phone and wonder if it isn’t its own kind of sensory-deprivation chamber. That tiny, glowing world of metrics can not compare to this one, which speaks to me instead in breezes, light, and shadow, and the unruly, indescribable, detail of the real.” Growing up in the age of technology, this hit very deep. This makes me think of the concerts I’ve been to where every single person has their phone up instead of living in the moment. The time spent with friends and family, not enjoying eachothers company, but sitting on our phones. Everyone can relate to this which is what makes it so powerful. This connects to her belief in the evil in technology and makes you think of instances that technology has plagued your life. 

Odell’s project is to break us out of the society we are so used to. She wants us to realize we are trapped in this attention economy. She wants us to realize the negative effects social media and capitalism have on our lives. She wants us to start doing something about this, by doing nothing. On page 22, she describes doing nothing as almost a “deprogramming device”. While she gave us some overall themes of what “doing nothing” will entail, we will have to keep reading to really understand how she expects us to make this change. It could be things as little as to not look at the ads on our phones, to delete social media, or even as drastic as throwing our whole phone away to stay away from the toxicity of the attention economy and social media. While I’m hesitant to make that change, I am oddly excited to see what she has to say because the points she brings up really have me thinking.

“Doing Nothing”, a new, popular proposal

Author, Jenny Odell, does an excellent job of painting a picture in the audience’s mind. In her book, How to Do Nothing, her main point is to express how to do less and enjoy your life more. She states that there is two lessons to be learned in this book. One is disengaging from from the attention economy and the other is reengaging with something else. The “something else” is nothing besides time and space, Odell explains. Jenny Odell says she tries to focus a lot on her surroundings. She argues that because the internet strips us of our sense of place and time, we can counter its force by placing ourselves within our physical environment, by becoming closer to the natural world. She goes onto say we are in a contemporary society, and what we can do to fix it and and fix ourselves. Ironically, the most effective tactic against our 24/7 culture of productivity might just be doing nothing. The author argues, when we stop, step back, and refocus our attention, we can begin to see the outline of a better, more meaningful existence. Odell states “The point of doing nothing, as I define it, isn’t to return to work refreshed and ready to be more productive, but rather to question what we currently perceive as productive”. Jenny Odell asks her audience why the modern idea of productivity is often a frame for what is actually the destruction of the natural productivity in an ecosystem. In more in depth, she explains how her happiest times were when she was completely aware of being alive. She says “In those moments, the idea of success as a teleological would have made no sense; the moments were ends in themselves, not steps on a ladder”. Odell talks about art work being a huge part of her life. She used computers to make her art, so it was an art-and-technology category. She states that her only real interest in technology was how it gives us more access to physical reality. Jenny Odell, says she’s not quite fully against technology. “There are forms of technology, from tools that let us observe the natural world to decentralized, noncommercial social networks, that might situate us more fully in the present” (Odell xii). She connects her ideas from technology with social media. There is times where one cannot fully express themselves on social media. The most damaging idea is commercial social media, which is affecting the way we live and see ourselves. Jenny Odell hopes that, How to Do Nothing will become a new, popular proposal, instead of our productivity obsessed environment. Hopefully by doing nothing, people will find ways of connecting to self- meaningful things. Obviously, when doing nothing, it is not activism, but she explains activism very clear. She preaches how important it is to pay attention to the little things. Odell uses a personal example saying “One thing I have learned about attention is that certain forms of it are contagious. When you spend enough time with someone who pays close attention to something, you inevitably start to pay attention to some of the same things”. I can personally connect to the author with a pattern of attention. One thing I tend to pay a lot of attention to is uncommon kindness. I always choose to notice when someone makes someone else’s day.