Though I was the girl in class who said that her takeaway from the article was that the teacher would never know if we cheated, I legitimately participated in the media deprivation activity.
How I spent my media deprivation:
.5 hours—Reading Reader’s Digest
2 hours—talking to family
8 hours—sleeping
11 hours—at work: actually working, gossiping with co-worker, building a fire in a trash can
1 hour—driving with only the hum of the engine, the whir of the fan, and my loud off-key singing
1 hour—eating in silence while reading The Washington Post Magazine
.5 hours--making hand-written lists such as this one
I planned my media deprivation activity around my favorite media, having huge media binges before and after the 24 hour period. I would be lying if I did not speak of the inevitability of media in my daily life, however. During the 24 hour period, I did use media in specific situations at my work. I answered the company phone 5 times—answering questions about merchandise and hours. I also used the computer’s point of sale software 7 times. E-media has become so engrained in our society that to refuse to use it is to refuse to do even the least media-related jobs.
When I was thinking I might try to write about the activity without actually doing it, I imagined that I would be totally miserable without media. I thought I would be like the student in Danna Walker’s class who felt “homeless”. I knew that my family would not be supportive (and they weren’t) because they are as dependent as I am. I thought that life without media would be void of joy, too quiet and too boring.
In actuality, when I was depriving myself of media, I was not too terribly bored. Though I did crave media, I had lots of time to be alone with my thoughts. I felt more together and more creative for the few hours I unplugged myself. If only I had the willpower to deprive myself more often.
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2 comments:
haha
You built a fire in a trash can? I don't know of many jobs that allow things like that. Your day seems pretty similar to mine, except i ate instead of working. I think it would have been easier if it was spring or something and i could go do something outdoorsy.
you get to build fire in a trash can at work? neat!
how is reading reader's digest media deprivation
how is the paper not media??
haha nice holly, 11 hours of eating?
yeah I was thinking of the same thing about outdoorsy things... if you go up to the mountain and live in a cabin for a month, it won't feel as bad anymore as you won't feel any pressure to give a junk about what goes on in the rest of the world, and it kind of sets you free to explore your surroundings.
I think in terms of media it's the society, environment and culture that's responsible for forcing us to use media. I mean come on, who actually needs Facebook? and for that matter, read up on world news?
Except for maybe folks with work with international impact, do we as individuals actually need to know about what the heck is going on in the middle east, in south america, or whatever? No! Well, sure we're told that we would be ignorant pricks if we didn't know anything, that's just society pressuring us to conform to some crazy-ass, instituted norm - the notion of overloading ourselves with media to show off how well off we are is kind of stupid. In this sense it would seem like media is just a way we could be entertained.
Sure, we would be informed if we read the news all day. But to what purpose?
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