Our life has been made more and more convenient and comfortable by modern communication tools such as the Internet. However, modern communication can bring unexpected trouble, too. Almost every day we receive unwanted text messages as well as junk emails carrying advertisements for nearly everything. Besides, privacy is almost nonexistent on the Internet. Too much reliance on modern communication could be disastrous. Therefore, how to make the best use of modern technology to the advantage of mankind and avoid its negative side to the fullest extent possible is a pressing global issue confronting human beings.
1 Could you live without daily electronic conveniences for 90 days? Reilly, a 24-year-old student at a Chicago school, did just that. I spoke with Reilly over the phone this weekend about his 90-day project, what he learned from living without electronic conveniences and how it changed his life.
2 You say you spent three months completely cut-off from the virtual world. What steps did you take to do that?
3 Reilly: I called Verizon and suspended service for my cell phone. I put up an out-of-office on both of my email accounts, like, “I’m sorry for the inconvenience, but I won’t receive this until the end of the year.”
4 Before what you called “The Amish Project,” how much time would you typically spend on texting and calling every day?
5 Reilly: It was pretty bad. I was sending more than 1,500 texts a month. I never really counted minutes on the phone, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was 600 to 900.
6 In the opening of your “Going Amish” presentation, you say that you had friends over and realized what was going on. Describe what you noticed and your feelings right at that moment.
7 Reilly: I live with three guys and we had two of our best friends visiting from New York City. We only see these guys once a year, maybe every six months. Every single person had either a laptop or a cell phone. Somebody’s playing Words with Friends, somebody’s playing Angry Birds. Nobody’s really doing anything, just sitting quiet. It’s like this was what we were all looking forward to and we’re just sitting here numbing our minds. That’s the thing that drives me crazy. People go out to dinner with a crowd and everyone’s on their phone. I mean, what else are you looking for?
8 You said that you had much more free time when you stayed off social media sites. Did this extra time translate into higher productivity or better grades at school?
9 Reilly: Yeah, a hundred times over. Like I said, there wasn’t really much to do at the house, so I stayed at school most nights until 10 when everyone else leaves around 6, without a doubt. I think what’s so hard for people and so distracting for people is that where they work, there are social media distractions on the same machine that they are supposed to be using to do their work. I’m sure every office in the country suffers from these things.
10 In the end, having finished this whole thing, is your life different now or did you fall right back into old habits?
11 Reilly: It’s definitely different, but I catch myself doing exactly what I hated. Someone is talking to me and I’m half-listening and reading a text under the table. Now, I’m becoming more and more aware of this change. Using cell phones evolved from being about technology to a kind of living in the moment.
不用手机和电子邮件的90天
90天不用日常的电子通讯设备，你受得了吗？芝加哥一所学校24岁的学生赖利就亲身体验了一次。周末，我通过电话跟赖利聊了这个90天不用通讯设备的计划，我问他从中获得了什么，以及这个计划是怎样改变他的生活的。
你说，你有三个月完全脱离电子虚拟世界，你是如何实施的？
赖利：我打电话给威瑞森公司停掉了我的手机服务，并在电子邮箱的自动回复栏注明：“您的邮件我到年底才能收到，非常抱歉给您带来不便。”
在所谓的“阿米什人计划”之前，你一般每天花多长时间发短信和打电话？
赖利：非常糟糕。我每个月发送一千五百多条文本信息。我没计算过打电话的精确时间，但估计在六百分钟至九百分钟之间。
在你陈述“阿米什计划”的开场白中，你说，你有次请朋友到家里来，意识到有什么不对劲。说说你注意到什么，描述一下你当时的感受。
赖利：我跟三个同伴住一起，有两个要好的朋友从纽约过来，我们一年或半年才见一次面。每个人都带着一台笔记本电脑或手机，有的在玩“填字游戏”，有的在玩“愤怒的小鸟”。没有人真正在做事，都一言不发地坐在那儿。好像这就是我们原本期待的，坐在那儿让大脑变钝。这着实令我抓狂。大家一起去吃饭，但每个人都在玩手机。我想说的是，还有其他东西可以追求吗？
你说，远离社交媒体网站后，多出了好多空余时间。这额外的时间是否使你获得更高的产出，或者使得你的学业成绩提高了吗？
赖利：是的，提高了百倍。正如我所说，因为在家里真的没什么事可做，所以晚上我经常在学校呆到10点才走，而其他人必定是6点左右就走了。我觉得，人们工作的时候，本应用于办公的电脑上有社交媒体的干扰，这使得工作更加困难、更容易分心。我敢肯定所有办公场所都有此困扰。
最后，完成了这个计划后，你的生活有所变化吗？还是依旧恢复了之前的老样子？
赖利：肯定有所改观，但有时我意识到自己正在做一些自己讨厌的事。例如，别人在跟我讲话时，我边听边在桌子下面读短消息。现在，我越来越意识到这种变化。过去使用手机只是涉及某种技术，而现在却上升到活在当下的一种状态。
