We are constantly tempted to react to the latest message or news. Furthermore, we often see it as a virtue: responding fast to the customer, finishing the task sooner. In a New York Times column, writer Teddy Wayne wonders if this capacity to respond, accelerated by technology, is extinguishing the moment for reflection.
If we think about it, instant reaction is just a habit that we incur into before thinking about the value of the task itself. Unlike the column, I don’t think it’s cellphones’ fault but the difficulty of finding meaning in a longer and easier life than generations before.
Introspection as a lonely activity is a prejudice that reaffirms the reaction habit, by presenting reflection as a luxury for the rich and eccentrics. Yet there is no need to be a hermit to reflect: conversation, which today we practice like never, is a habit that drives to introspection sooner than even withdrawing to the mountains. We just need to pause and think to reflect instead of responding immediately every message.
Don’t RT: think about it.