David Murdock Column: On turning off the electronic world for a while

So, on a whim last weekend, I turned off most of my electronic devices for 24 hours.  I left the cellphone on, of course, and I thought the Kindle was fairly harmless, considering what I was trying to do.  The whole experience was illuminating.

Until one tries to do without a thing, one doesn’t know how much one actually relies upon a thing.

For example, I hadn’t been reading an actual, physical book for too long ― maybe less than 20 minutes ― when I found myself reaching for the cellphone to look up a word.  Without thinking about it whatsoever!  Then, I had to look around for a physical dictionary;  there simply wasn’t one handy.

Now, although I had decided that I could use the cellphone, I’d also decided that I wouldn’t use it unless necessary.  And that wasn’t necessary.  There are physical dictionaries in this house.  Several, in fact.  Not a one was near at hand ― convenient, in other words.  “Convenient” is the key.

Convenience proves to be … inconvenient.

Take just the moment between the last sentence and the one before it.  “Moment” is an exaggeration ― it was actually more like 15 minutes.  Something popped into my head, so I stopped writing for a “moment” to look it up on the internet, and 15 minutes faded away, just like that.  It’s not like I was just going down rabbit-holes.  Rather, I was actually doing something that needed to be done, but still, the flow of the narrative was interrupted.

That’s it — convenience.  I’m strongly fighting the urge to go to the internet and look up the word “convenience” to find out the word origin.  Oh, great … now I want to know the origin of the word “urge,” too.  Back to “convenience” ― the prefix con- usually means “with,” so there’s that.  But, “with” what?  (There’s a real battle going on right now in my head — do I look the words up or not?)

There are two dictionaries just a couple of feet from me right now.  However, the print in those dictionaries is really small, and I don’t have reading glasses with me.  OK, I tried, but my arms simply aren’t long enough.

Curses!  Foiled again!

Huh!  It’s not the con- prefix;  it’s originally com- in Latin.  The word “convenience” comes from the Latin word for “to assemble” or “to come together.”  “Urge” comes from the Latin word for “to press, push, entreat.”

For good measure, “Curses!  Foiled again!” is from the cartoon "The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle"―– specifically from the villain Snidely Whiplash, the nemesis of the Canadian Mountie, Dudley Do-Right.  I knew that … but I just had to check.

I stopped, though, before I started watching an episode of "Rocky and Bullwinkle."  Give me that much credit, at least.

(And there’s another extended break, during which I, of course, checked the internet.)

It’s not like I’m a technophobe.  Quite the contrary.  I like technology.  It’s … well … convenient.  I found how just how convenient during my 24 hours mostly without it.

I finally started making a list of things to check when I returned to the internet.  That’s cheating, in a way, but that approach has one great advantage to it:  It’s purposeful.  When I did allow myself to indulge, there would be a to-do list.  That takes a lot of the randomness out of the equation.

It also brought to mind another question:  Why was I even doing it?  It’s not like I’m “tragically online.”  The origin of that phrase?  I’m not sure … and a quick (and I mean quick) internet search revealed nothing.  I know it’s not my phrase.  I see it all the time … on the internet.

No, “tragically online” is not a phrase that would ever apply to me.  I’m so not “tragically online” that some of my friends tease me about how un-online I am.  My social media footprint is exceedingly light, and I have no desire to deepen it.  The only place that I might even be considered online is that I do enjoy my Amazon Kindle quite a bit.

In fact, I read about half the books I do on a Kindle.  However, there’s a catch.  I only read the Kindle for “entertainment novels.”  Almost never for non-fiction and never for more literary novels.  Also, I read the Kindle only at night, when I’m reading before dropping off to sleep.  At other times, I read physical books.  There’s simply something about a physical book.  However, there’s simply something about a Kindle, too.

The results of my 24 hours?  I made it.  There was a ripple effect, too.  Once I realized how often I was reaching for the cellphone, I stopped.  During that day, I only checked email three times, which isn’t much for me.

Since then, I’ve tried giving up other things for a day, to greater and lesser success.  The whole experience has taught me quite a bit.

What I really cannot understand, though, is this:  not too long ago, I didn’t have any electronics to check.  How have they become such an important part of my life in so little time?  Convenience, yes, but at a cost.

David Murdock is an English instructor at Gadsden State Community College. He can be contacted at murdockcolumn@yahoo.com. The opinions expressed are his own.   

This article originally appeared on The Gadsden Times: David Murdock on turning off the electronic world for a little while