Speaking of "digital introspection," and the future of considering ones digital landscape more real than the real landscape, here's a BBC video about an Android app that allows you to combine the two.
A national museum in the UK has enabled its visitors to get a personal tour of several of the exhibits, narrated by a 3D version of a famous British science presenter: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/click_online/9718563.stm When the teachers start to lose kids to their smartphones, the smart teachers develop apps for the smartphones. :-) --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "Susan" <wayback71@...> wrote: > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Vaj <vajradhatu@> wrote: > > > > On May 6, 2012, at 9:58 AM, Susan wrote: > > > > > > Yep. The increasingly sedentary lifestyle since the 60's we can > > > > probably vouch for ourselves, being raised in the generations that went > > > > from kids playing in yards after school and on weekends to cable > > > > cartoons after school and Saturday morning cartoons. Scouting around > > > > neighborhoods today, you see few children ever outside, despite > > > > neighborhoods filled with kids. Of course video games, computers (and > > > > computers in cell phones) and the web has just accelerated these > > > > inwardly-drawn, self-absorbed dweebs, fed on commercials and TV and > > > > their "inner" lives. > > > > > > I see today's kids are having lots of connections with others, but not > > > face to face. I think they have too many connections and too much input > > > and are stressed greatly by all the different expectations of the > > > different people. Probably better for young people to have just the > > > number of connections and interactions you could have face to face and in > > > real life. These kids are the transition from the old style to the new, > > > and our systems have not grown to be able to handle it - yet. > > > > Maine has a good number of lower income families, so an interesting piece > > of this puzzle is that there are still generations here who grow up living > > and playing and hunting outside simply because their parents don't have the > > money to hook them to the web or whatever. But - all Maine 7th graders in > > Maine get an Apple laptop, have for years. This way you make sure the > > poorer families don't become part of a technological underclass. > > > > > > > > > > There's some speculation that in response to these changes a > > > > transitional being may be being born. These are the numerous, many > > > > probably as yet unknown, levels of the autistic spectrum child. > > > > > > Do you mean this in a spiritual way? If so, I doubt that. Altho I do > > > think that our tech culture has allowed techy, introverted people who are > > > mildly on the spectrum to thrive and marry and produce offspring who also > > > are on the spectrum, only more so. So it is being passed down more these > > > days. I bet that within a few decades, science will allow us to bolster > > > and repair that part of the autistic spectrum brain that is different to > > > the point of dysfunction. > > > > What I'm saying is if digital introspection is part of a disease process, > > it's only natural that this could or would have a ripple effect for future > > generations. If we pathologically dissociate from the world we live in, > > we'll develop nervous systems that are modified accordingly. So this raises > > the further question: people who spent large parts of their life > > meditatively cultivating an introspective lifestyle, are there also > > negative adaptive mechanisms that kick in there? Meditative texts are > > filled with lists of the side effects of such meditations, what if there's > > something to them? > > Re digital introspection - I wonder how long it takes for such brain changes > to be established to the point they could be passed on to offspring. I would > guess it will take a few generations for us to see the full (possibly horrid) > impact of this major tech shift. A bunch of people who can't think deeply > about anything? Who can't focus for more than a few seconds? Multi tasking is > something I find annoying - in colleagues at work it is AWFUL. And I do it > too, sometimes, and feel odd as a result. The tech revolution might also > have some great effects, too. > > As to the consequences of spending so many hours with eyes closed? I never > thought of that - someone should research that. Twenty minutes twice a day > seems at worst benign and at best very beneficial; a full TM program every > single day, year after year, who knows? > > > > > > > > Vaj: But no one really knows what it all means. It makes me wonder IF > > > pathologic introversion does cause this in humans, what does compulsive > > > meditative introversion do to meditators children? Vedic Village of the > > > Damned? :-) > > > > > > > > > > Trying to raise children while having a demanding spiritual practice like > > > TM/TM sidhis must be a challenge, unless you have the funds to hire loads > > > of good help. And even then, the hours spent with eyes closed and not > > > interacting with the kids, having time to hang out........ I would not > > > call it compulsive meditative introversion - at least not for most Dome > > > going parents. They were caught up in a bad dynamic - trying to be > > > householders with children to raise while really devoting time to making > > > a living and then doing their program (not a householder thing, really). > > > There was a lot of pressure to make doing the program the top priority. > > > For most, I hope that common sense trumped the expectation to do an > > > extended full program twice a day. It did mean having to buck the system > > > and what you thought MMY wanted you to do. Thinking back, there should > > > have been special instructions for parents, special programs to > > > acknowledge the time constraints, an honoring of their efforts to cut > > > meditation short to spend time with the kids. From what I heard and saw, > > > there were some who made a mess of caring for the kids. These days, are > > > there young couples in Fairfield who have kids and go to the Domes? I > > > think of the Domes as filled with mostly older people. > > > > Yeah it seems to be coming a geriatric crowd, supplemented by outsourced > > Indians. > > >
