It's these small tidbits that make life worthwhile...

Overheard at the complex pool last night: "I've just discovered that my glasses don't work underwater."

Hooked: Telling the Truth about Technology, in an Exaggerated, Slightly-Blown-Out-Of-Proportion Way

Confession: I sometimes select books by their cover.

Case in point: A few months ago, while searching the “New” section at the library, a shocking yellow-orange cover caught my eye. “Hooked,” by Matt Richtel, a technology journalist in San Francisco. I bit the hook (no pun intended) and checked it out. Fantabulous choice, highly recommended. Sometimes judging by the cover is a good idea.

The premise of “Hooked” is that during the dotcom boom, companies looked for ways to increase the pull of computers and other technology to entice consumers to their products. Technology became addicting. Consumers are bombarded constantly with new information, and when it slows down, we get bored and seek new stimulation.

The catch is technology becomes all consuming. A person spends more and more time at his computer, surfing the web, following link after link, finding any excuse to stay online even when his body tells him to take a break for food, drink and bathroom duties. The desire for stimulation overcomes the basic needs of humanity. If a person tries to go cold turkey and stave off his addiction, the shock is killer.

It really reached out to me. I have found the knowledge-giving power and instant gratification of the internet enticing all too often; though it may not kill me, it can be difficult to pull away at times.

Why do we seek out technology instead of books and education? A fast-paced book provides action and stimulation (granted, the reader must have a smidgeon of imagination for this to work) but it also requires more work. As a reader, you must commit to the book in order to get the same satisfaction you would get from a blurb online. If the opening paragraph is boring, you must trust that it will improve, whereas with an online article, if the headline or opening line doesn’t hold your attention, there are thousands of other articles you can turn to that will pique your interest.

We’ve foregone the discipline and dedication of long-term satisfaction and turned instead to the pull of instant gratification offered us by the internet. Reporters work around the clock, literally 24/7, searching for new ways to capture the evermore-elusive attention of the public. But it’s a self-feeding cycle: readers crave more news. Publishers hire more reporters and post content more often. Readers skim more, read less and demand more information.

How long can it continue? News stations won’t be able to provide news every second of every day and we’ll be left bereft and empty. You can see this problem with 24 hour news television channels like CNN; there aren’t enough stories to fill the time, so the stories repeat themselves in half hour segments. We tune in to hear the same stories repeated with new journalists offering their interpretations, endlessly arguing over nitpicky points that probably don’t matter in the long run.

I wonder, though, if this instant information actually serves to detach us from the world. We sit in our safe abodes and comment on the news, analyze it and give suggestions on how to improve the situation but none of it feels quite real. We aren’t involved, the end result doesn’t affect us much, or if it does, it comes about in such a convoluted, indirect way that we think it’s a separate event; who would realize that a hurricane was caused by a butterfly?

When we are bombarded by constant updates on wars that happen halfway across the world and which candidate wore blue and which wore black, it becomes difficult to determine what is important and what is inane, to see what truly affects our worlds and matters and what simply serves as white noise to distract us from the ennui of our lives. We need to reduce our exposure in order to regain control of our lives; reduce the white noise and start listening to your brain and your heart. Think about your interactions with technology: what are you doing and why? If you're just clicking on that link for lack of anything better to do, stop yourself, get up and walk away. Meet with friends, engage your brain, stimulate your mind and body. Read the news to stay informed, not to stave off boredom.

Better yet, read a book.