November 9th 2007
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One of the most interesting posts I did recently that produced a lot of comments and thoughts was the one regarding whether simplifying our lives is a lost cause. In it I debated whether in this high tech world, adopting a process of simplifying our lives was putting us at a disadvantage. Below are two comments that stood out for me.
Abe: “What is our ultimate goal here, productivity or happiness? I have often fallen into the same trap of assuming that I should become more and more efficient, only to realize that I am missing out on the joys of being human. Our time is fixed, every time we say ‘yes’ to something, we are saying ‘no’ to something else. There’s more to life than information.”
Abe makes a very good point. Productivity != happiness. It is only part of a much bigger jigsaw that leads to contentment in our lives. When I write reviews of shows, I used to have a notepad in hand and wrote critically as I watched. Great for productivity because I did two tasks in one go. However eventually I released I was no longer watching shows with the simple intention of enjoying them. Now I’m willing to spend an extra hour writing up notes afterwards if it let’s me just enjoy the show.
Martin H: “With ever-growing choice and information, I’ve personally stopped worrying that I’ve missed something vitally important, because it’s less relevant. So long as we generally know where we need to look and have the right methods to digest that information effectively, it’s unlikely to cause a problem, even for specialists.”
What has become apparent from thinking about the issue further is that though we have more choice and numerous ways of accessing and receiving information, how much of it is actually important? We may have hundreds of TV channels but have they introduced us to a whole new collection of engaging shows or just repeats of our old favourites? We may be able to view thousands of webpages and feeds for information but how much of it is unique and not just rehashed or repeated ideas?
