Re: In Praise of Lo-Fi
Came upon Jack Chang’s site through a recommendation from Hedyeh at PSFK. I immediately went to his post from January, “In Praise of Lo-Fi” because I’ve been thinking about the human reactions to connectivity. He has a great anecdote from a writer who isolated himself on a freighter from Seattle to Shanghai to write a script. This passage struck a personal chord.
“So what happens when the situations that once forced us to disconnect start to disappear? What happens when the entire globe is blanketed with wi-fi and iPhones don’t run out of batteries? What happens when we have to consciously decide to switch things off?
The opportunities for deep contemplation and big-picture thinking get put at risk. Personally, I rarely have big ideas while sitting in front of a computer or staring at my phone. Those types of things usually come to me when I’m walking down the street or in bed about to call it a night. Unless we start adopting the kind of habits to manage how and when we connect, will power won’t stand a chance against computing power.”
I always seem to think more powerfully when I am in places of solitude, and the shower and planes are two places where I have always come up with ideas. I think about how this will affect our children, who will know no alternative.
Will it reduce the level of creative thinking, or will their brains simply be trained in a different way with the ability to shut out the cacophony for moments of true inspiration and deep thinking?
