Going "Unplugged"

Recently, I had the opportunity to go camping and hiking for a few days with a group of other teenagers in my church. We all (except for some adult leaders, for practical reasons) left our phones and other such devices at home. This particular trip was a unique experience for being more "old fashioned" in activities than a standard camping trip, in that we didn't use much in the way of high-tech camping gear, and it was a lot of fun. Anyway, when I got back, I turned on my phone to make sure things at home got along well without me, particularly with my band responsibilities. It was a bit of a hassle to be in contact with multiple people simultaneously to get information I missed and a report of the one rehearsal I missed for the event. It got me thinking about how our daily lives are so interconnected since reconnecting was one of my first few priorities after taking a "technology break." This interconnection definitely has good and bad sides, many of which were discussed in our summer reading and on this blog. Postman says that technology is causing people to be oblivious to the world and disinterested in learning about it. Other arguments suggest that interconnectivity is keeping distant people close and actually helping people by giving them more opportunities to learn about the world. Personally, I agree with both arguments and neither by saying that in order to receive only the benefits of the technological and connected world we live in, we just need to be mindful of what we do and not take anything to extremes.