{"id":7520,"date":"2007-04-22T22:17:09","date_gmt":"2007-04-23T03:17:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/2007\/04\/22\/around-here-the-ice-is-already-mel"},"modified":"2011-08-05T14:53:49","modified_gmt":"2011-08-05T18:53:49","slug":"around-here-the-ice-is-already-melted","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/2007\/04\/22\/around-here-the-ice-is-already-melted\/","title":{"rendered":"around here the ice is already melted"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"BlackberryNYT\"\u00a0 Blackberry Blackout<\/strong>: In Sunday’s New York Times <\/em>April 22, 2007), Matt Richtell has an op\/ed piece that delves into the psychological reasons for the excessive attachment so many people have to their Blackberry devices — as especially demonstrated during the 12-hour blackout of the Blackberry network last week.\u00a0 In “It Don\u2019t Mean a Thing if You Ain\u2019t Got That Ping<\/a>,” Richtell asks, “what if what the users were missing was more primitive and insidious than uninterrupted access to information?”\u00a0 Here are some of the notions he uncovered:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. “Experts who study computer use say the stated yearning to stay abreast of things may mask more visceral and powerful needs, as many self-aware users themselves will attest. Seductive, nearly inescapable needs.”<\/li>\n
  2. “Some theorize that constant use becomes ritualistic physical behavior, even addiction, the absorption of nervous energy, like chomping gum.\u00a0 This behavior is then fueled by powerful social motivators. Interaction with a device delivering data gives a feeling of validation, inclusion and desirability.”<\/li>\n
  3. \"CellphoneApe\"\u00a0“Several years ago,\u00a0[Harvard psychiatry professor John]\u00a0Ratey began using the term ‘acquired attention deficit disorder<\/em>‘ to describe the condition of people who are accustomed to a constant stream of digital stimulation and feel bored in the absence of it. Regardless of whether the stimulation is from the Internet, TV or a cellphone, the brain, he said, is hijacked. \u201cI liken it to a drug,\u201d Mr. Ratey said. \u201cDrug addicts don\u2019t think; they just start moving. Like moving for your BlackBerry.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Dr. Ratey likens the Blackberry problem “to a food addiction, which is one of the most beguiling for psychiatrists.” After all, he said, “food is essential for life, but problematic in excessive doses. And that\u2019s what makes breaking technology addiction so difficult.”<\/p>\n

    his power out,
    \nmy son calls to talk about
    \nnothing special<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    …………………………….. by John Stevenson<\/a>\u00a0– Acorn<\/em>, No. 14, 2005<\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/p>\n

    home alone
    \nshe blows a kiss
    \ninto a cellphone<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    \u00a0<\/p>\n

    around and around\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \"blackberryG\"
    \nlearning the names
    \nof one way streets<\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/p>\n

    just long enough
    \nto leave an impression
    \ndragonfly<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    ……………………………… by Yu Chang<\/a>
    \n“just long enough” – Upstate Dim Sum<\/em> (2005\/I)
    \n“around and around” – Upstate Dim Sum<\/em> (2001\/II)
    \n“home alone” –\u00a0 Upstate Dim Sum<\/em> (2004\/II)\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    \"skaterSignN\"<\/strong>\u00a0 Thin Ice<\/strong>. Speaking of digital obsessions: I spent\u00a0far too much time today re-formatting my Jan. 2006 post<\/a>\u00a0exploring the source of\u00a0the maxim “if you’re\u00a0walkin’ on thin ice, then you might as well dance.”\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>As often happens, I follow a link from our SlimStat page and discover\u00a0that a visitor came to f\/k\/a<\/em> because we had\u00a0the #1 result in a Google search.\u00a0 This time it was the query: dancin’ thin ice<\/a>.\u00a0 When I went to see our post, I discovered — as usual — that the formatting of the piece was in some\u00a0way or\u00a0other\u00a0messed up when we changed webserver and weblog software last June.\u00a0 My perfectionism then leads me to try to quickly fix the problem, and the result is almost always<\/em> a bigger formatting mess (usually having to do with spacing and indentation).\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

    After several repair attempts, I\u00a0ended up re-doing the entire piece as a new\u00a0f\/k\/a<\/em> Page — again called “dancin’ on thin ice<\/a>.”\u00a0The effort was not worth the\u00a0time and aggravation, but the posting is pretty interesting,\u00a0for those who missed it the first time and have a little spare time.\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The talk of ice, coming as we are receiving our first too-hot (for me) weekend of 2007 here in Schenectady, NY, makes me want to reprise the ice-skating poems from\u00a0that earlier posting:<\/p>\n

    coldest day of the year
    \nthe lone skater laps
    \nhis breath<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    \u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u00a0by<\/font> George Swede<\/strong><\/font><\/a>\u00a0from\u00a0<\/font>Almost<\/em> Unseen<\/em><\/font><\/font><\/strong><\/font><\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/p>\n

    figure skaters on lac la belle pirouetting into snow squalls\u00a0 \"iceSkatesG\"<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    \u00a0<\/p>\n

    cold wind\u00a0\u00a0
    \n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 the sweep of the speed skater\u2019s arms<\/p>\n

    \u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026 by\u00a0 ed markowski<\/strong><\/font><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/font><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    \u00a0<\/p>\n

    dancin\u2019 on thin ice?
    \nthe old guy\u2019s
    \ndoin\u2019     The Slide<\/a><\/p>\n

    \u2026.\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026. by dagosan<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    \u00a0\"HaigaThinIceMagnaPs\"\u00a0haiga from MagnaPoets<\/em><\/a> (April 22, 2007)<\/p>\n

    round and round with you
    \ndancing
    \non thin ice<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    poem: DAVID GIACALONE
    \nphoto: ARTHUR GIACALONE\u00a0     orig.photo<\/a><\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    \u00a0 Blackberry Blackout: In Sunday’s New York Times April 22, 2007), Matt Richtell has an op\/ed piece that delves into the psychological reasons for the excessive attachment so many people have to their Blackberry devices — as especially demonstrated during the 12-hour blackout of the Blackberry network last week.\u00a0 In “It Don\u2019t Mean a Thing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":94,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[555,1414],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7520","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-haiku-or-senryu","category-qs-quickies"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6kP1R-1Xi","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7520","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/94"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7520"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7520\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12556,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7520\/revisions\/12556"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7520"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7520"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7520"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}