Birkert's Critique

In class today we were asked to raise our hands if we spent one hour a week away from technology, reflecting on ourselves, and not one person raised their hand. This really did not surprise me, but I did wonder what it means in terms of my life. My friends and I cannot remember the Spanish- American War or willing spend our time reading Virginia Wolf, but we seem to have ample time to spend on Facebook and/or Twitter. There seems to be a regress from knowledge and literature as technology has come to consume our lives. Birkert argues, “Why do we think communication is so blasted important? I'm almost tempted to say that we would do better with less communication, the more so if communication becomes a kind of stand in for facing oneself inwardly.” Talking with others means we don’t have to focus on ourselves, staying in touch others means we find out so much information on the lives of others without focusing on ourselves. None of my friends, myself included feel comfortable sitting at dhall alone or going to a movie alone. We feel a need to be in constant company or at least in constant communication with each other. We don’t want to be known as an outcast, but we also genuinely like the company of others.  While we are always in the presence of technology and in communication with one another, “We have less time to read the works of Emerson if we are always online talking with friends. We have become more obsessed with the present and future and don’t have time to look at the past and gain wisdom.”  Birkert’s biggest critique is our lack of self-perception. He claims that my friends and I are moving toward a world of shallowness and while I know the importance of technology I do agree with him. I feel embarrassed that I cannot remember important dates in history, and instead seem to know people’s Facebook statuses. We are even shallow in our online language like saying ttyl, u, and gr8 online. Our relationship with technology is consuming and we seem to be missing out on the history of our country, our self-perception, and the wisdom we would have gained from spending an hour a week away from technology and our friends. While I am not going to stop using my computer, I am going to try to spend a little time each week away from technology and my friends in order to gain a little self-perception.