Wednesday.....Culture.....Semper Reformanda (Always Reforming)

A few days ago I did a book review (November 7th, Dave, My Mind Is Going) on Nicholas Carr's book The Shallows, What The Internet Is Doing To Our Brains. I didn't stumble upon this topic for I have been concerned with the overall trend away from the written word for quite a while and have been a lover of books and libraries for even longer. I've commented a number of times on my disdain for the whole concept of social networking, and a few days ago, in another blog, I gave my thoughts on the necessity, at times, of an upheaval in our own lives. Introspection into these matters brought me to a decision of my own. My constant need to check the news and email, fluttering like a butterfly over the Drudge Report, stinging like a bee on my blog, and general dependence upon updates of updates brought me to my own desire for upheaval. I want to see how I will function without HAL speaking in one ear. I want the challenge of surviving with less information. (as I paused here, considering what to write next, I checked my email and news)  So I've decided to put my blog, and all use of the Internet aside for six weeks starting on Thanksgiving Day. The blog would then be a few days short of two years. My decision here may be as uncomfortable to me as the Chinese Water Torture Cell was to Harry Houdini. I've been trying to formulate this for a few weeks now. I'll lay my Toshiba aside and have my iPhone surgically removed for that period, only opening up an old laptop for the word processor. I hope to analyze if my own thinking has been effected and even my personality. I hope to read a little bit more and see if this effects my comprehension and retention. Maybe it's time to pray more and write less? In fact it's probably always time to pray more and do anything less but I do hope to continue to write some, maybe daily notes on how I'm doing without a constant input of news and I may try something altogether new. There is really no cable television to add to this for we only receive eleven stations as it is. I may resume the blog in January, in fact I hope to, and I may not.  None of us knows what a day brings. Lord willing, I will at least report back on this little experiment six weeks from Thursday, on January 6th of 2011, or thereabouts.