Turn It Off

I ran across a video on YouTube the other day promoting a website called www.shutdownday.org, and I gotta tell you, it's the best idea I've heard in a while. Shut Down Day, March 24th, is an internationally observed day for everyone to turn off their computers. No internet, no computer games, no instant messenger for 24 hours. The site has a forum, blog, and a few videos on YouTube that talk about it.

Here's a good one:



Just make sure the laptop is broken before you play ice hockey with it.

And another that someone made:



But there are some that don't so much agree with this idea. And if you read on their website some things people will do instead, some say they will be playing video games that day... not exactly taking advantage of the opportunity for extroversion. As someone who logs on to myspace everyday and HAS to check her email, it will be a challenge. But, I think it's an excellent idea, and I hope people do decide to shut down.

Also, on a related note, my mom told me that she was talking to our friend Kim from Nevada (I think it was Kim... perhaps I'm mistaken) about a sort of experiment in a classroom. The teacher told the college kids to see if they could go a week without being on their computers, video games, cell phones, everything. They said that was too harsh, so the assignment was set for four days.

Not one of them succeeded without cheating.

It's sad how dependent we are on technology... I'm a filthy hypocrite, seeing as I like my electric blanket at night and spend most of my time staring at the computer screen. But I do acknowledge that too much is not really a good thing.

On an even MORE related note, we are studying the Industrial Revolution in my World History class. Where our society could once survive without technology, now we are totally dependent. Where will we be in twenty years?

That's enough for today. I'm going outside.