Idle Questions
I’m reading Liane Moriarty’s new(ish) book, Nine Perfect Strangers. It’s set at a health resort. The story doesn’t exactly hang together, but I’m enjoying most of the characters.
One of the caveats of the resort is that you need to hand over any devices. It’s ten, screen-free days. Frances, one of the guests at the resort, laments the idea of giving up the Internet for 240 hours. On page 106, Moriarty writes, “How was she going to cope for ten days without instant answers to idle questions?”
That is exactly what I would miss about the Internet.
I could stay off of Facebook for ten days: I love you all, but I could skip reading your updates for ten days knowing that Facebook’s algorithm ensures that I never see every post anyway. I’m going to miss a bunch whether I’m on or not.
I could not write in this space or read someone else’s blog for ten days. I would miss writing and reading, but I could always journal and catch up on my feed reader when I return. I wouldn’t miss television shows or movies or games.
But I’ve grown dependent on instant information. On being able to look up the answer to any random question that bubbles up in my mind. I get so frustrated when I hit a question and there’s no easy answer, or I’m trying to find someone online and I can’t.
For me, that would be the hardest part about giving up the Internet. What would be your hardest part: idle questions, FOMO, a feeling of disconnection, or… ?
6 comments
I didn’t get my first smartphone until Sept. 2016 and got it mostly because the no frills text/calls phone I had was starting to lose battery life. Everyone told me “once you get a smartphone, you will never go back” – not really a selling point for me! In any case, got the smartphone and…
I can’t imagine not having the entire internet at my fingertips at all times. Forgotten number for a business? Google and call. Disputing with husband about (fill in blank fact)? Look it up. Get lost somewhere? Dial in the directions. Not being able to remember something and not being able to immediately look it up seems almost unimaginable now (this is the point where I crankily have to remind myself on the rare occasions when I can’t access my phone/internet that it can wait…I mean, I spent most of my childhood looking things up in physical encyclopedias).
Long story short: my issue is definitely the idle questions.
Directions, deals, answers to questions, a book when I forgot a physical one, instant responses to people’s preferences when I’m trying to get something done and didn’t cover the topic beforehand. All of that stuff is so convenient. I don’t really miss my phone when I forget it, but that’s usually only because those situations didn’t come up.
A million times yes to this: “I’ve grown dependent on instant information.”
I was thinking just today about how I used to love my World Book Encyclopedia set, which was perhaps 100 pounds of just-in-case information. Now I have weightless just-in-time information at my fingertips, unless I go internetless.
I would have a hard time going without my phone even more than without the internet. I mean it’s my calendar, my contacts, my directions, my jotbook, etc. I used to carry a Franklin Planner, but my little phone is so much more.
Idle questions for sure, but also just the help with random daily tasks. The ability to say”Hey Google, set a timer/open Pandora/etc” while I’m cooking or add things to my list with a “Remind me to get x next time I’m at y store” or voice-search directions while driving or tracking my mileage&pace while training for a 10k are all thingsou’d have to pry from my cold dead hands at this point
I would also miss being able to instantly answer idle questions. I would also hate being inaccessible to friends and family.
Also, this one wouldn’t be an issue while locked in at a resort, but in daily life, I rely on my iPhone to remind me of so many things! My memory hasn’t been as good since becoming a parent, so I know I would seriously forget to do most things without those reminders.
For me I’d miss whatsapp the most. That’s how I connect with family and friends to keep up with what’s going on in everyone’s lives. That said, 10 days of unplugging from it all should be feasible. Probably healthy too since we are all way too reliant on our phones these days.