NAIS
This week my wife and I were at the National Association of Independent Schools annual conference. I was giving a talk on contemplative computing and efforts by schools
“Technology supports the mind’s natural need to experience life through its own narrated version”
Psychotherapist and minister Nancy Colier asks "Are our devices training us to escape the moment?" The everyday mind, she argues, "wants to narrate our life, to tell the story
“writing a book is always a mistake”
As someone in the process of selling a second book project, I did not need to read Emily Gould's piece in Medium, "How much my novel cost me."
Worthwhile Canadian initiative: Family Day Unplugged
Last Monday was the third Family Day Unplugged in Alberta, Canada, a chance to "unplug from technology & electronics for the day, and spend time connecting with yourself,
Evgeny Morozov on digital detoxes, and the need to rethink unplugging
Evgeny Morozov has a short critical piece in The New Republic about digital detoxes, mindfulness and technology. I think the swipe at mindfulness is on the shallow side,
“You know what really needs attention? What working like crazy and taking no time off really gets us”
Washington Post contributor Brigid Schulte has a brief piece explaining why overwork is bad for you. Forget Russian figure skater Julia Lipnitskaia spinning in a blur with her
“For every minute you don’t touch your phone, our sponsor can provide one day of clean water to a child in need”
The UNICEF Tap Project sponsors projects to provide clean drinking water to the hundreds of millions of people who don't have it. This year, they've created an online challenge:
New article on binge-watching, and questions for those who want to share
I've got a piece on binge-watching in the latest issue of Slate. In that piece, I mention that I've been doing interviews with people about their viewing habits.
Why Flappy Birds had to die: “it happened to become an addictive product”
I missed the whole Flappy Birds phenomenon; I played Angry Birds for a while but gave it up, and now pretty much the only games I ever play
“many individuals had died clutching identity cards and mobile phones”
We often talk about our cellphones feeling like extensions of ourselves, and usually we mean that rather casually. However, as I argue in my book, this is one