In the Casa Polgoda villa near Carvoeiro there was a 55 inch TV screen with instructions about how to access various extra channels. However, I am pleased to say that it was never turned on. Nobody wanted or needed that distraction - even Little Phoebe who is often in the habit of whining, "I want to watch something!"
Apart from not watching any television I also avoided being on the internet entirely. No blogging. No BBC News. No e-mails or Google. I was completely off-line. Of course the others all had their smartphones which they accessed every day but not me, nor Phoebe and the babies.
It felt good to detoxify. Most of us spend far too much of our lives looking at screens and I am not at all sure that this is good for our health - either mental or physical. Arguably, we become smaller, less significant beings when big chunks of our days and nights are devoted to screens. What is it doing to our brains?
A little Googling led me to some interesting numbers. The average American spends around seven hours a day looking at screens - TV screens, computer monitors and smartphones. That is forty nine hours a week which is the equivalent of two full days out of seven.
For children living in the western world this is all they have ever known. They think that it is all very normal but people of my generation can remember times when there were no screens apart from very occasional visits to cinemas.
There was more time for quiet thinking, family conversations, shared social activities and sports. Surely- all much healthier than immersing ourselves in the multifarious offerings we find on our screens.
It also occurs to me that every interface with a screen involves consumption of electricity. Smartphones are charged up day after day all over the world. Think of all of that electricity! Incredibly, it is estimated that there are 6.94 billion smartphones in the world. 1.5 billion of them are in China and India. Yes - huge amounts of electricity every single day so that users can check "Facebook", share memes, take photos, play games and message each other.
Screen detoxification would do us all some good once in a while. I think we would have clearer heads and more focus upon the world around us. And maybe we would start to rediscover some of the things we have lost because of screen time. After the positive experience at Casa Polgoda, I am going to actively try to reduce the amount of screen time I accrue each morning of the week.
It's so easy to go online. I try to restrict myself and I am somewhat successful, but only somewhat.
ReplyDeleteThe last few weeks my mum has had a short hospital admission and we've realised that dad has dementia so I've had to devote a lot more time to my parents, therefore my screen time is way down. I can't say I miss it.
ReplyDeleteOh dear, is this a planned approach to soften us up before a massive blog reading cull?
ReplyDeleteScreens have been lifechanging in our time and I'd like to think I don't neglect anything or anyone by attention to a screen. Others may think differently about me, or themselves.
I enjoy a break from the interwebz and the social medias!
ReplyDeleteThat experience was kind of a wake up call for you. I'm wondering if we can get off screens? Have we reached a tipping point. The years I was in the Arctic (63 to 69) we didn't have television. We still remark about how different it was. We had to visit with people and we did.
ReplyDeleteFor my brother and I our early childhood was screenless, my parent did not get a TV until we were 14 and 11 respectively. And the motivation for getting a TV was to access some educational programmes related to my brother's classes. (The fact that it was the week that Dr Who started was entirely coincidental) As a family, we were never great TV watchers, and that remains true tiday.
ReplyDeleteAs I lay here, mesmerized by the screen in front of me, this is an interesting idea. Actually I had about 12 days of no screens on the cruise. I missed the blogger buddies, but not most of the rest.
ReplyDeleteI have tried to cut down my screen time by deleting several blogs from my reading list, this way I have more time for real books and hopefully more time to get out and walk my butt off.
ReplyDeleteOK. You've convinced me. I shall give up blogging.
ReplyDeleteMaybe next week ....
As someone who doesn't spend every moment staring at screens, I still feel that I sometimes view more than I really want, or need, to. Computers, Internet, TV and phones are all very useful and now have a place in our everyday lives, but not to the extent of obssession. I'm amazed at the number of dog walkers I see totally engrossed in their phones!
ReplyDeleteI like to blog and read and comment on my favourite blogs and I like emails and WhatsApp but never had time for Facebook or any kind of other social media.
ReplyDeleteYou are with Sunak on this, children under 12 years old should not use smart phones? Think the genii is out of the bottle on that one. Love to see you convincing Phoebe - no screen.
ReplyDeleteYou are not wrong.
ReplyDeleteThought and experience blockers.
ReplyDeleteWhen you live on your own, looking at screens is a lifeline. There is aonly so much housework, gardening, needlework or reading you can do, particularly in the evening. I probably watch about 4 hours of TV in the evenings. I know that seems a lot but it is company and often just background noise for me.
ReplyDeleteBeing retired and living alone, most of my everyday social interaction is via the internet these days ("one way or the other"), and I would feel rather isolated without it. When out walking I rarely use the phone except as camera, and when I'm with other people I normally put it aside as well. Without any actual statistics, I'd say I probabbly use my phone more to listen to audio books than for any other purpose - and with my eyesight deteriorating, it's also easier for me now to watch screens rather than read small text printed on paper. So on the whole I think it's not as much about "screens" as about what we use them for!
ReplyDeleteI know that during the Covid years the blogs I read really helped me stay connected to people and saved me from feeling too lonely. I still enjoy reading and commenting most days as I have come to consider them my blogging friends and like to hear what's up in their lives. I also get to travel around the world through all of the blogs and I sure enjoy that.
ReplyDeleteLike some others here have said, blogging (and for some, other social media) has been and still is a way to connect to other people, real people. But of course there can be too much of a good thing, which is why I have not added new blogs to my reading list in a very long time.
ReplyDeleteFor work, I already spend most of my week days online and looking at computer screens. Very little paper is used nowadays in our offices; I don't even have a printer at home anymore.
My smartphone is most useful when it comes to public transport, which I use almost daily, since it holds my tickets and lets me check train times etc., and when I am out and about, I use its camera a lot, too - no need to carry yet another item with me (I hate being weighed down by heavy bags).
I enjoy a select few computer games but when I have the choice between a walk or a game, the walk always wins. As for TV, apart from the main news, I rarely watch "live" TV anymore; it is mostly streaming what I want, when I want it, and usually one episode of a series before I switch the telly off and go to bed, where I nearly always end the evening reading.
In spite of a lot of screen time, I still spend a lot of time talking to people on the phone (O.K., because we live 150 km apart) or face to face (my Mum and my sister, mainly, plus those of my friends who live near enough to meet up with for the pub quiz or for a walk etc.).
During our walking/hiking holidays, O.K. and I often find ourselves in places without WiFi, and apart from staying in touch with our elderly and recently widowed mothers back home (via one regular text message every morning to make sure they are alright), we don't watch or hear any news for the duration of our stay. The world keeps spinning, whether we watch it or not.
I don't think I've had a screen-free day in YEARS. But you're right -- I think it's probably healthier to take a break now and then. One thing I've noticed reading "Little Women" (my current book) is the emphasis the kids put on entertaining themselves through creative projects and visiting friends -- pastimes that would now compete with a screen.
ReplyDeleteSteve, I loved Little Women, but I think my favourite Alcott is Work.
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