Digital Dilemma

When Smartphones Make Us Dumb

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From the first moment I turned on my smartphone I was enchanted.  Upon activating, the device emitted a strange, though not unpleasing, ethereal noise as an electric blue swirl flashed on the screen.  I resisted buying one until 2013.  As predicted, I love everything I thought I would love about it and feel irritated by everything I thought would be irritating.

Recently I started wondering what the name “smartphone” is really defining.  Does it refer to the actual phone, meaning that it’s “smart” because it possesses technological capabilities to make our lives easier?  Or does “smart” refer to the owner, who is, in some sense, smarter because of the phone?  Having a smartphone means never getting lost, being able to access & retrieve information anytime/anywhere, and receiving notifications/reminders to keep us on track with communication and other aspects of daily life.  These all seem like really positive aspects of having a smartphone, which is why I’m amazed at the ways in which I’m becoming “dumb” for owning one.

I know a number of people, some of whom are smartphone owners, who call me for directions. First of all, most people are pretty adverse to picking up the phone for something as ordinary as a conversation.  And second of all, the smartphone makes you smarter – use the map app!  And if you can’t read a map, google “how to read a map” or “how to activate map voice commands” and the magic inside the phone will give verbal instructions.

And this leads me to the next point, having access to so much information all the time means that I’ve become a bit “dumb” about socializing and communicating with people. My skills are deteriorating because I rely on technology so I don’t need to interact with people to get the information I need.  I’m waiting for a facial-expression app for when we lose our natural abilities to infer meaning from body language.

Smartphones make us dumber by remembering so much for us. When was the last time you remembered a phone number instead of relying on speed-dialing, a contact list, or a voice command?

And lastly using the smartphone makes me “dumb” about my surroundings.  I find that when using the device, even just for taking notes, I’m so focused and absorbed that it consumes all my concentration.  I understand why people have accidents due to “distracted driving.”

 

Amazon, Ecuador

The Jungle

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We arrived in the evening and drank icy cold beers while listening to the nightly chorus of animals. We assembled early the next morning for bird watching. As an added bonus spider monkeys dropped from the trees to feast on bunches of bananas left for them by the docks.

Spider monkeys came down from the trees to eat the bananas left for them.

Spider monkeys came down from the trees to eat the bananas left for them.

After breakfast we boarded a canoe to visit a schoolhouse and meet some of the children before eating a traditional lunch hosted by one of the families living in the area.  The lunch required us to prepare some of the meal, including a packet of fat juicy larvae wrapped securely in a banana leaf.  I was squeamish and could only stroke the soft, wrinkled skin of the wriggling grub, but my mother prepared 8 of them.  First she crushed their heads with her thumb to kill them before threading a skewer through the soft, silky body. Then she sliced the flesh with a knife to let the guts ooze out to prevent them from exploding while cooking.

The larvae.

The larvae.

I ate the crunchy head of a cooked one with my meal of fresh fish, plantains, yuca, bananas, and salsa.  It tasted like crispy chicken skin.

Next to the house was a Kapok tree, one of the tallest in the jungle.  It can live for hundreds of years.

A view of the Kapok Tree. It was so big it was hard to get it all in one frame.

A view of the Kapok Tree. It was so big it was hard to get it all in one frame.

In the afternoon we learned more about the plants and their medicinal properties. One of my favorites was the Dragon Blood Tree. Our jungle guide cut into one with his machete and extracted a red, viscous sap. He rubbed it over a scrape of mine turning the sap into a fluffy pinkish-white cream.  Another favorite was the Walking Palm, which grows roots to pull the tree towards a light source.  In this way the palm “walks” 10-20cm a year!

In the evening we boarded the motor-powered canoe to see another side of the jungle, the oil industry.  Oil is mined from deep in the jungle  leaving pollution and residue behind.

Two towers of eternal oil burn.

Two towers of eternal oil burn.

We restored ourselves after by visiting a lagoon in 4 smaller canoes to listen.  Lightening bugs twinkled around us and their eggs glowed brightly on floating plants. A few people glimpsed the glowing, fiery eyes of a caiman in the water and of a bird called a Great Potoo in a tree.

Deletion, Digital Dilemma, Facebook, Social Media

Tracking Toxic Relationships

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I recently heard about a new app called pplkpr, pronounced “people keeper”, to help you keep track of your emotions when interacting with people.  It’s designed to help you discover patterns and trends in your emotional state based on who is around you.  The idea is to keep the people who impact you positively while eliminating interactions with people who stress you out.

The app works by:

  • using GPS to monitor when you are moving, and
  • detecting variations in your heart rate to determine if you are having an emotional reaction to something.

According to the website, “pplkpr is based on measurements of heart rate variability, where subtle changes in heart rhythm signal changes in your emotional state. pplkpr knows when you’re having a strong emotion, and lets you decide what that emotion is.”

The heart rate is monitored through a Blue-tooth enabled wearable fitband, or by inputting data manually. Pplkpr connects to your Facebook friends, but it’s not clear if you can add people outside of your FB network.  At the moment, only in-person interactions can be recorded as no options exist for communications through email, text, social media, or phone calls.

The app collects and analyzes the data over time identifying patterns of your emotional state when interacting with certain people.  Once identified, the app can be programmed to block out stressful people while initiating engagements with others that have a positive effect.  On one video clip of pplkpr, users spoke of the benefit of being able to use technology as a definitive justification for breaking off a friendship or relationship.

We’re relying on technology to discover patterns about ourselves that we’re too disconnected to notice, even though we live through them 24/7, as a way to become more engaged.  And then we’re relying on the technology to manage the relationships to tell us who we should be spending more time with instead of connecting with them personally.  Am I missing something?

It’s supposed to make us feel more connected, or more aware of our connections, but does so in a way that is disengaging in the moment.  To me this is just inserting a “third-party” into the equation.  Perhaps if we spent our time together in engaging, meaningful ways we would be able to feel and recognize what is going on, rather than distracting ourselves by measuring and punching in data.

 

 

Human Archives

Flying

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Have you ever been asked if you would prefer to have wings or a tail?  I always answer “tail” but the overwhelming majority of people pick “wings”.  Whenever I ask “why wings” the answer is always the same, “then I could fly.”  However, not all wings are designed for flying and wings are not the only way to fly.

If we think about how often and in which contexts we use the phrase “flying through…” we might be surprised to discover wings are not always present.  We use “flying” to describe feelings of weightlessness, soaring through air, or moving at terrific speeds, not all of which require wings.  Additionally many animals accomplish flying in ways that diverge from wings and/or air.  Think about flying fish, penguins, or other diving birds that use their wings to “fly” in the water.  Consider fast moving land animals, such as cheetahs or gazelles, that are often described as flying.

I discovered my “wings” through swimming.  Nothing makes me feel better than flying through the water. Last summer I went swimming in the Atlantic Ocean while vacationing on Fire Island.  At the time I was recovering from a shoulder injury and had been swimming less than usual.  I had been restricted from doing butterfly specifically because it’s so strenuous.

One day in the salt water, surrounded by waves, an irresistible urge took over.  And then I did it, a few flaps of fly just to remember the sensation of “flying through the water.”  For a few brief moments I was a great sea creature, like a penguin or dolphin, propelling myself effortlessly through the waves.  The rush, the feeling, soaring through the air and water against the dynamic motion of the waves and the undertow.  Incredible.  My shoulder reacted later with a few sharp pangs, but it was totally worth it.

How could I resist?

How could I resist?

*Bonus: Why do I always pick tail?  There’s no rational reason. I think tails are cool and extremely expressive for most animals.  I have a natural aversion to feathers so the thought of having feathered appendages coming out of my back sounds creepy.  To me having “wings” is not synonymous with flying.  What if I got dirty pigeon wings?  Or small sparrow wings that couldn’t lift me off the ground?  Also wearing shirts would be challenging.  A tail seems easier to accommodate.

Digital Photos

Dangers of Selfies: Injury, death, and lice?

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People are getting more daring and crazy trying to take selfies.*  Now with the advent of the selfie stick (see earlier post), people can take them with a wider lens, crazier angles, or even selfies that don’t look like selfies.  With all the craze, hype and obsession people have with selfies, it was just a matter of time before people started getting injured and killed.
One of the craziest selfies I’ve seen involved a man near the edge of an active volcano, wearing protective gear, which would not have protected him if he’d fallen backwards into the lava.  Another one featured a picture of a man taking a selfie while running from the bulls in the Pamplona Bull Run.  Or the story of a teenager who pointed a gun at his own head and tried to take a selfie with his phone, except he accidentally squeezed the trigger instead of taking the picture.
The teen lived, but others have not been so fortunate in trying to capture the perfect selfie.  Most of the stories around people dying while taking selfies frequently involve heights (in the form of cliffs, building edges, and bridges) or doing something like playing around on train tracks.   When I read some of the stories I have to wonder if the person would have ventured so close to the edge if there wasn’t a picture involved?  Or would s/he paid more attention to the dangers if s/he wasn’t so absorbed in snapping the perfect selfie to prove (remember?) that s/he did something risky?

Although head lice doesn’t really compare with selfie injuries and death, I found several articles suggesting that an increase of head lice in schools could be from the popularity of taking selfies.  However, none of the claims were ever substantiated.  The idea, according to a few news stories, is that the lice spreads amongst children and teens leaning their heads in too close together for too long to capture selfies.

If you love taking selfies, be careful how far back you step and whose head you’re rubbing against.  Clearly capturing selfies is turning into something of an extreme sport.

*A selfie is a term for a picture you took of yourself.

Amazon, Ecuador

From Andes to the Amazon

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I just got back from a fantastic trip to Ecuador.  We spent two weeks touring Quito, the Amazon and the Galapagos Islands with Overseas Adventure Travel.

Our first full day was spent sightseeing in Quito. We went to a lookout point and later stumbled across a street parade during out walk around the old city. After getting lunch in the Franciscan Square we visited La Compania de Jesus, a baroque-style church where everything was covered in gold leaf. (Pics were not allowed so you’ll have to Google it for images.) At our welcome dinner we were delighted to discover that:

  • Ecuadorians put popcorn in cream soups (similar to croutons)
  • Fresh homemade salsa was always on the table.

Our second day started early with a bus ride over the Andes to the jungle. We made several stops along the way. The first stop was at a lake so we could get out and stretch our legs.

Our first rest stop at this scenic lakeside.

Our first rest stop at this scenic lakeside.

Then we arrived at a cloud forest with dozens of hummingbird species flitting around.  The air was moist and humid.  Tiny pippings and chirpings of the hummingbirds resonated through the trees. Sometimes I could hear the furious buzzing of hummingbird wings sailing past my ears.

Hummingbird hanging out in the cloud forest.

Hummingbird hanging out in the cloud forest.

The ride continued and my jaws were chomping furiously on ginger candies and chocolate to combat the effects of altitude sickness. I was still chewing away when we stopped to visit a family in the area. The hostess was named Olga. She gave us a tour of her home and picked fresh tomato tree fruits for us to taste. The shape and texture of the fruit is like an Italian plum, but bigger. The reddish-orange color of the flesh and seedy interior were similar to an actual tomato. Pretty tasty. And of course they grow on trees!

Our hostess picking fresh tomato tree fruits.

Our hostess picking fresh tomato tree fruits.

I made it over the highest point with only mild discomfort before starting the descent towards the jungle. We stopped for a delicious lunch of fresh trout. Then a quick visit at Hollin Waterfall to stretch our legs, enjoy the scenery, and marvel at the streams of leafcutter ants working industriously scurrying about on the trail.

We finally arrived in Coca and got fitted with knee-high rubber boots for our jungle walks. Then we boarded a motor-powered canoe for a 45-minute ride on the Napo River to the Yarina Lodge where we would be staying for three nights.  The boots are on posts in front of the cabin.

Our cabin at Yarina Lodge.

Our cabin at Yarina Lodge, note the hammock hanging out front.