Juggling different elements of life

This graphic demonstrates the difficulty that humankind has with all the information portals that are available to us. The man in the cartoon is juggling five different elements of his life. The cartoon was originally found on a website for a company called "Illumine", which focuses on management and personal skills development training. The article talked about information overload. The audience is everyone who is submerged in the digital revolution; that is, one who has a cell phone, Facebook, e-mail address, Twitter, etc.

The main point of this visual is to express the dominance of technology and information in our lives. It is both humorous and realistic. We don't realize how "plugged in" we are until we see cartoons such as this. The visual subverts the traditional American value of family. Four out of the five elements being juggled relate to a person's individual life, whereas only one element (the family portrait) depicts family life.

The cell phone is visually the largest image that the man is juggling. On the opposite side of the frame, the family portrait is the smallest. This sizing technique effectively illustrates the importance of technology and our "need for information", which exceeds that of our family a lot of the time. The technique is very noticeable due to the fact that a cell phone is physically the smallest element in the visual. The use of color is also notable. Each piece of technology and the man are all in black and white. The family photo and the date book are in color. I believe that this technique was used to separate the idea of man and technology from the idea of traditional values (like keeping a calendar of events on paper).

As illustrated by the cartoon, our lives are so full of information. We are constantly connected and plugged in to the outside world. This alienates us quite a bit from our own personal lives (our relationships, friendships, and family). The main point of the graphic is not to influence us against the use of technology, but to understand the difference between moderation and going overboard. When we live our lives in moderation, "juggling" the different aspects of our life will not be so difficult and overwhelming.

When is it time to log off Facebook? When is it time to send that last e-mail? When is it time to turn off your cell phone or computer? We must ask ourselves these questions in order to live a life that is not characterized by information overload.

Information Overload Cartoon

Cell phones

You are out on a dinner date with a special someone. There is candle light, and classical music is lightly playing in the background. You just can’t wrap your head around how much you enjoy this person’s company. All romance ceases with the blaring sound of your date’s cell phone going off. “Surely he will silence that,” you think to yourself. Instead he asks, “Do you mind if I take this?” There are obviously instances when the phone call is of importance. However, most of the time people answer their phone literally just because it rang. This not only instantly gratifies the caller, but also the recipient of the call-they now know how their best friend’s day went. Never mind the date who was left behind at the table.

The advent of cell phones caused human behavior and interaction to change drastically. Now at the press of a button, one can get in contact with another person. Not only do they have the ability to do so, but they also expect it.

As more and more features have been added to mobile phones, the more prevalent this phenomenon has become. Many young people will sit in a restaurant with their family but be texting their friends. High school and college students will sit in class, sending and receiving a string of text messages. What is so important that can’t wait until after class? We just can’t stand to be disconnected, if only for a short period of time.

The beginning of cell phones was the beginning of this idea of instant gratification. We must always be plugged into the lives of others. We have made this transformation in under twenty years. What will come next?

An Intro to Info Overload

It's 3 A.M. Your phone rudely awakens you from a peaceful slumber. It's your lab partner texting you, asking how you answered questions 15-17 on the chemistry homework. If this had occurred 25 years ago, you would have:
a) Been confused as to what a so called "text message" was, and
b) Been so offended that this person, thinking it was acceptable, had tried to contact you in the middle of the night.
Instead, you sit up in bed, quickly text your lab partner back, and attempt to go back to sleep. Sometimes we do this without even a second thought about how rude this digital contact is at certain hours of the day. And, heaven forbid, you don't respond promptly at 3 A.M.; your lab partner will be annoyed with you. When did we stop respecting people's personal hours? As a child, my parents taught me that it was inappropriate and rude to call someone's house phone after 8:30 or 9:00 P.M.

I am going to explore the advent of personal cellular devices at some point in this blog. This is when people started deeming it acceptable to call or text others whenever they pleased, and expect a response right away.

My specific area of interest is instant gratification, whether it be on your cell phone, Facebook, or the Internet in general. I'm going to talk about how we expect to retrieve information instantly, and when we aren't "connected", we feel lost, annoyed, and sometimes even angry. In this blog, I plan to stick to the idea of information overload. We are constantly "signed-in" and cannot fathom the idea of "logging out" for a while. You are always reachable in one way or another, and the same for all of your friends. We have constant contact with one another, and know about most everyone's personal lives. We just know too much information.

The idea of instant gratification is a very new phenomenon. We lose sight of the truly important people and events in our lives. We are too interested in everyone else. I would like to explore this topic because it both deeply saddens me as well as interests me. How can we behave so differently from our parents, even though they were the ones who taught us our moral values and manners?