3 Ways to Stop Living Vicariously Through Technology
Image courtesy of jonrawlinson on Flickr
As technology continues to improve, it is becoming easier than ever for us to live vicariously through the creations of others. Living vicariously through technology is “watching instead of doing.” An example is getting home from work and deciding to watch television or Youtube videos instead of creating something of your own. It is stagnating during your free time instead of growing. This is a bad habit, but luckily there are some ways around it.
The leisure industry counts on you being lazy and stagnating- that’s how they make their money:
The tremendous leisure industry that has arisen in the last few generations has been designed to help fill free time with enjoyable experiences. Nevertheless, instead of using our physical and mental resources to experience flow, most of us spend many hours each week watching celebrated athletes playing in enormous stadiums. Instead of making music, we listen to platinum records cut by millionaire musicians. Instead of making art, we admire paintings that brought in the highest bids at the latest auction. We do not run risks acting on our beliefs, but occupy hours each day watching actors who pretend to have adventures, engaged in mock-meaningful action.
-Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Flow
So you have two choices- you can either 1) continue stagnating, giving your money and free time to the leisure industry, or 2) use your free time to grow. If you chose option 2, here are three ways to get started.
3 Ways to Stop Living Vicariously Through Technology
1. Create your own damn content!
Everyone loves free content on the Internet. The reality is, only 1-2% of website visitors actually contribute content. For example, about 1-2% of Wikipedia visitors actually contribute to the site (according to Yochai Benkler’s The Wealth of Networks, as of 2005).
You can change this, and grow along the way – if you have a valuable opinion, or are an expert on a subject, why not share it with others? You might be surprised how much feedback you start getting, how many interesting people you meet along the way, and how good it feels to contribute to a greater cause.
Examples: Start a blog, create videos on Youtube, create an article at Wikipedia, create a new recipe for a meal.
2. Don’t want to create? At least contribute.
If you don’t want to create your own content, you can still grow and help support online communities by contributing feedback, comments, and ratings to websites. Providing feedback to other’s content is critical to the continued success of social media. For example, I love getting comments on my blog- whether they are positive or negative, feedback is better than no feedback. It lets me know people are reading what I post, and helps me improve if someone mentions a critical piece of information missing in my post.
Examples: Comment on a blog post, rate a Youtube video, edit a spelling error on a Wikipedia article.
3. Stop using technology so much
Get away from your computer/television/PDA. It’s healthy to create a daily ritual of “disconnecting” from your computer, and there are plenty of ways to grow without technology. Who knows- you might even get a workout along the way.
Examples: Play a sport, play an instrument, create art, create music, exercise, join an improvisation group.
These are just a few examples, use your imagination to come up with more. The point is- don’t live vicariously through technology or you will stagnate. Use your free time to create and grow, and you will find yourself living a more meaningful life.
WRITER'S BIOGRAPHY
Derek Ralston
Derek Ralston writes for Life Evolver, a blog which provides insightful tips for individuals to make positive, sustainable changes in their lives.
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Comments
Mike F says on August 13th, 2008 at 10:10 am
Laudable sentiments, and I don’t mean to have a dig, but I did have to smirk at the following:
“edit a spelling error on a Wikipedia article”
Writer Dad says on August 13th, 2008 at 10:27 am
I like number one. It’s true. We are all an expert in something. If we spent a small percentage of the time we spent surfing, creating, the internet would be a different place.
Derek Ralston says on August 13th, 2008 at 11:01 am
@Mike F: Haha- editing a spelling error on a Wikipedia article doesn’t sound like much, but if each person just does one minor edit or addition like that, it really adds up quick and increases the quality of content on sites with user-created content.
@Writer Dad: Yep… And not only would the Internet be a better place, people would feel better about themselves for contributing (=
Garland says on August 13th, 2008 at 2:04 pm
I work for a Stamford CT nonprofit serving 600 disadvantaged and homeless kids. Not only have these children never been anywhere except our small city, they don’t see travel and cultural exploration as a possibility for them due to poverty. I’m studying abroad this fall, and live Webcasts and my blog will bring them the sights and sounds of France and Western Europe with the hope that this ignites a spark in them. We’re tying it to classroom learning and after-school programming in the hopes that a different kind of engagement and connection will take place. My time at the computer creating those opportunities, and their time viewing and interacting with what I create, is time well spent if it moves a child to travel, explore, or read.
The internet can expose people to things they may otherwise never see and makes a new kind of learning possible.
Garland says on August 13th, 2008 at 2:21 pm
oops…I messed up the link (see above) for the blog where I’m posting stuff for our kids. This one is correct.
moneymadness says on August 13th, 2008 at 8:34 pm
So very very true! I like the disconnect suggestion. It’s a worry when we have to plan that time in though isn’t it.
Shinrin says on August 13th, 2008 at 8:41 pm
I think so.
Now I try to create my systems and share to other people.It’s difficut,but I continue to try it.
I am encouraged from your post.
Thank you!
Shinrin from Japan.
G.D. says on August 18th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
The idea behind this article is excellent, and for me the first item (”Create your own damn content!”) is the real gem here: most of the people spend their entire lives only consuming what is created by others, and creating nothing themselves–or never sharing what they create, which is better than not creating at all, though not the best they could do.
But the third item seems out of place: “stop using technology so much” in part contradicts every suggestion in the other two items except one. Technology (especially a computer) can be a really great way to create something–for example, you can create and record your own music with it, make animations, develop software, write books and articles, edit videos, produce podcasts, etc., and then share it with the entire world. The problem is not with technology itself, but with the “watching instead of doing” stated in the first paragraph, which can happen even without any technology: watching someone painting a picture and never painting one yourself, for example.
Derek Ralston says on August 18th, 2008 at 11:25 pm
@Garland: You mention “The internet can expose people to things they may otherwise never see and makes a new kind of learning possible.” Agreed here, it definitely makes a new kind of learning possible. And your example makes sense, the key here is “interacting”, as you mention, versus simply watching and not contributing/adding to something. That is where the growth occurs.
@G.D.: Good point! The third item seems a bit out of place for the post. I was trying to add some non-technology items to the list, but as you stated, many of them actually use technology in some form… And it’s not the technology itself that’s the problem, but instead how it is used. I appreciate the critique, this is a good example of a comment that helps someone improve their writing skills (like I mentioned in item #2 of the post) (=