30 Dec 2016

My replacement needed a nano sim. I had no idea they existed, and I ordered a micro sim! Yes, I am getting out of touch.

Perhaps I can get away without using a mobile at all. There’s really no need for me to have one. It’s not that I’m making and receiving many calls. I can catch up on twitter any time I want when I’m at home. And emails can be sent and received at home too.

I must announce that I’m going phone free. This is adding nothing to my life. My concentration isn’t great at the best of times, and the mere site of a mobile phone is enough for me.

I’ve heard it said that gamblers aren’t addicted to winning. They are addicted to losing. After all, that’s what happens more often. And it’s exactly the same thing that is happening when nothing happens on facebook, or email.

In reality, this is exactly the same thing as in the working environment. I can be messaged at any time  – I’m not, but I could be. I could message anyone, but I don’t – but I could. So, I decide to have no connections visible. This way I can’t see if anyone is available or not.

We can be busy, available, do not disturb, away, appear away, or off-line. It’s almost as if our whole persona can be reduced to the colour of a small icon on a laptop screen. And it has.

There is a game in play here. We may think we are special and complicated, but to other people, we are, well other people. Sometimes all we need to know about someone is where they are lying on the floor so we don’t trip over them.  And as great as the human brain is, that is all we do – not trip over them.

It’s amazing how quickly people can disappear from our consciousness. The same applies to ourselves. People will forget us. But when the need arises, we can remember the handful of things we need to.

The same goes for ourselves, again. How do I feel? Do my joints hurt? Am I hungry? I’m too busy thinking about myself to think about anyone else. No-one ever calls, or asks me to find out. And I only ask the people who’ll give a quick reply. Don’t give me the long story, unless it’s funny, or worth my time.

As with MP3 music, the quantity increase, but the depth in quality reduced. The same seems to have happened with communication.