Monday, July 27, 2009

8.5 Hours a Day

While reading the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly, I came across a column by Stephen King in which he mentioned a recently released study that says adults spend an average of 8.5 hours a day in front of various screens (television, computer, mobile devices).

This got me to thinking, what's the point of having a body if all you're gonna with it is sit in front of a screen? Such a sedentary activity. I admit to spending a lot of time on the internet and as the years go by, it becomes more difficult to remember what we did before this. As a child, I read books, but the net trumps this (I can read absolutely anything I want without having to turn a page and if something is boring, I can just move on to another website).

I believe that we are here to experience things, however, and staying home talking to others on Facebook may seem like a semi-social activity, but it's a poor substitute for face-to-face time. By the way, what is with these wusses on Facebook who have one of their children as their profile pic? Is it because they feel that they are grotesque-looking (or fat)? What of those who have a pic of two people (themselves and another) as their FB pic?

In heaven, are we also going to spend all our time in front of screens? Or will we actually get to live life as it was meant to be; with a plethora of members of the opposite sex who find us Dead Sexy and can't wait to get busy. But wait, why would we need genitals in the afterlife? Does God have genitals? Is that why he's referred to as a He? And if so, what in the hell does He do with them?

7 comments:

Rocketstar said...

LOL, nice Thomas. Heaven, if it were only so.

In the end, all we really are Thomas is a collection of electrons and the body is the host.

Thomas said...

I pray that you're right.

Jo said...

You made me laugh out loud.

P.S. I post pics of my kids on my FB profile because I am madly in love with them. Sometimes they are so cute you just want the whole world to know.

Who wouldn't love to see my avocado-covered little darling over me? http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/Zadorina

Timothy Smith said...

Tom, Jo is right us parents have that silly urge to post pics of our kids all the time but you are also right some people seem afraid to post pictures of themselves on Facebook. I guess they see themselves ugly in their own eyes which is sad. They of course would most likely be against seeing old friends for the same reason.

I noticed most of my old friends that do that were considered good looking in HS and don't want our mental image of them altered. Such a silly thing to worry about.

Sarah said...

I work 8 hours a day in front of a computer screen, so i'm wondering how 'skewed' this number is.

houstonmacbro said...

I love the richness and vastness of life on the 'Net in all it's complexity. Websites, podcasts, RSS feeds, social networks.

Jenn'fer said...

Great question - does god have genitals? and what would he do with them? I won't give you the answer that I'm sure Brian in Mpls would.... but it's tempting!

If not God's sperm, then how did Mary get pregnant? Did they have turkey basters back in 36 BC?

To your point of screen time... I have found with my teens that they are actually pretty good about peeling themselves away when they've had too much. I probably spend as much time in front of a screen as they do... but they happily volunteer for walks, cribbage games, dinner at the table, etc. Its the same thing we did with candy - let them have as much as they wanted (within reason), and it no longer was an issue. I offer them candy today, and they say, "eh, maybe later"... Abundance mentality is a powerful parenting tool!