“Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.”
– Michael Corleone, The Godfather Part III (1990) (Screenplay by Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola)
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“I find it useful to ask of any technology that is marketed as indispensable, What problem does it solve for me? Will its advantages outweigh its disadvantages? Will it alter my habits and language, and if so, for better or for worse?”
– Neil Postman, Building a Bridge to the 18th Century
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Sometimes it feels like we live in a mediocre sci-fi movie.
Our devices alert us, call to us, hypnotise us, train us to respond to them.
I feel like a brave man turning off all alerts.
I train my messages to sit quietly and patiently until I want to see them.
It’s hard to simply finish your day’s work and leave it behind until the next day.
There’s always someone contacting you.
Directly or indirectly.
Trying to pull you back into thinking about work.
Trying to grab your attention.
Other people’s needs and wants.
A WhatsApp here. An email there.
When it is best to focus on what we need right now.
Read a book.
Fall asleep.
Take a breath.
Unlike Michael Corleone, we don’t risk physical harm if we ignore the requests.
A little FOMO perhaps.
I can live with that.
Can you?
Conversations With Quotations 