That explains why cats are so superior to us. They are incredibly good at that (though it does tend to lead to unconsciousness). I recall an episode of Radio Mystery Theater where the doctor prescribed a cat for his heart patient – “follow it around, do what it does, learn to relax” – perhaps emulating cats, to a point, could improve society.
Ye-es, but I mean times like I just saw in the last week:
Guy walking down the street, texting.
Guy sitting on the bus, texting.
Girl, walking up from the pool (!) at the Y and blocking the stairs (!!) so she could send a text.
And of course there’s the bad and dangerous texting at traffic lights or whatnot.
I don’t mean things like sitting in a waiting room. For example, I went swimming this morning and then driving back, and during the swim and the drive I thought of an idea, and composed a story in my head for a paper I have due on Friday. I continued thinking of it as I got dressed and as I walked to the car, etc.
I feel these little moments of quiet thought are going away.
Yes. And the difference between now and 40 years ago is that today there are lots of things actively clamoring for your attention, so that if you don’t respond to them they pile up. 40 years ago if you missed a TV show it was gone, but you survived somehow. Now it sits on your DVR asking you to watch it. If someone called while you were out you missed it - now it sits on your voice mail. And we have added texts to respond to, and emails to respond to.
Intel has times where people are allowed to ignore their email so they can actually work and think. I do that myself, but I have a well-developed reputation for weirdness. And sometimes people come down the hall to see me if I haven’t responded in five minutes.
The person with clout in the future will not be the person who is most connected, but the person who can turn off his or her connections and get away with it.