PLGRM

AI, algorithm, and digital OH MY!

I’m not being cheeky when I say that I like it when Amazon shows me what I might like to buy next. The Instagram algorithm has made me aware of things I never knew I wanted until I saw them. I like that I can search the last 10 years of my life on Evernote and find what I need.

This is a special time to be alive, I have to admit.

BUT… I also know what it means to hand over part of my brain to the machine so I actively cultivate practices and hobbies to keep me grounded in “the real world.”

And you should, too.

Quoting author David Sax, Hope Corrigan writes in the Washington Post:

The more we rely on digital technology for work, learning and socializing, “the more we seek out analog alternatives as a balance or a different way of engaging with the world,” [Sax] said.

Analog pursuits keep us healthy. That’s not an exaggeration. We need do to things that have a physical component to keep us sane. When I look at the list of “6 analog trends that are good for your soul” I can’t help but smile.

I’ve participated in all of them in the last 5 years. My current favorite hobby? Fountain pens and stationery.

An awareness of screen time — even short tasks like jotting down to-do lists — has led people to reconsider the power of pen and paper. On TikTok, the hashtag #stationeryaddict has nearly 800 million views, and a large subsection of the platform is focused on how to utilize planners and calendars, organize a desk with sticky notes and staplers, and sample new pens.

Sax says that he will almost always start a project with pen and paper and move to typing it on a computer once the key elements are in place. He recently began a new book project and found that physical paper provided the space he needed to plan.

“I wrote out different ideas, locations and themes, and all these different components that I had to do,” he said. “And I arranged it in my backyard on a table. That gave me this idea of an outline and it was this physical manifestation of it.”

I think this is part of the reason I like to do the hard thing on purpose.