Nature and Technology

Question #1: Nature
Briefly state how much time you approximately spend out in nature per week? Outline where you went for your nature exploration? Discuss what it felt like to completely shut off your technology and embrace the simplicity of the outdoors? Discuss some of your favorite things to do outdoors and examine your overall connection with nature? Do you feel this exercise was useful? Why or why not?
I guess I can say I spend at least about 3-5 hours in nature per week, depending on what I’m doing and why I’m doing it. I’m surprised I don’t actually spend more of my time out there considering where I live, but hey, school requires a majority of my time (for some reason). I went out to the Pole Line out by the complex with a friend of mine, and to be completely honest, I guess we didn’t really spend a lot of time sitting, relaxing, and appreciating nature, we spent more time doing cool jumps on some of the man-made dirt tracks out there. We did end up going down a trail we were curious to explore, but I ended up braking to fast at a steep, rocky part of the trail and scratching up my leg badly. We just decided to walk our bikes back at that point.
We didn’t actually shut off our technology, but my friends cell phone did die on him, and I didn’t use mine or even pull it out for the entire duration, so I guess I can honestly say I didn’t use technology in my time out there. Anyways, it felt quite good to disconnect myself from the hectic, unending mainstream of humanity for a little bit. It can prove to be very stressful even when it’s not a necessity (ex: internet not working properly, people constantly texting you).
When I’m outdoors, I love to just walk around, explore, inspect, and appreciate everything that’s surrounding me. The thing that boggles my mind about nature is that it’s not man-made, and that all the incredible formations and patterns I see were never designed, but instead simply came into existence. I guess in that regard I can say my connection to nature is an ok one, albeit not incredibly large.
This exercise, as I see it, was very useful, even if I didn’t end up following the guidelines properly. It was entertaining, interesting, and thought-provoking.

Question #2: Technology
List your favorite aspects of technology? What do you think are the most positive benefits of modern technology within our culture? What do you think are some of the negative disadvantages of modern technology? Do you think technology creates, provides, and promotes distractions, diversions, and short attentions spans within today’s world? Explain.
I guess some of my favorite aspects of technology would be its potential, its ease of use, the amount of information it has provided for us, as well as an area to store it and make it instantly accessible, and the amount of things it gives us to do when we’re bored.
The most positive benefits that come with technology are easy connection to the world, easy obtainment of information, and easy access to entertaining and educational things to do. Yes, it probably has more downsides then upsides if you look at it closely enough though, a few being short attention spans provoked by how easily were used to being able to access different things, the amount of distraction it can cause, the amount of time it consumes that could be used more productively to create/do something meaningful, the disconnection it causes us to have with
nature and occasionally a lot of our other surroundings, the information it gives us that we’d probably be happier not knowing, the amount of intricacy it causes us to see as entertaining and worthwhile, which leads us to get easily bored because we perceive other, simpler things as not being as intricate and therefore not entertaining or worthwhile, as well as the new things we have to learn almost daily due to the never-ending updates and improvements.
Yes, I do think technology creates, provides, and promotes distractions, diversions, and short attention spans within today’s world; it’s not hard to see.
I know for a fact that people that were living hundreds of years ago never saw things in the intricate, complicated ways as we do now. They simply lived life as fully as they could, and never took anything for advantage.

Question #3: Nature and Technology
List the most important elements in nature for you? List the most important elements of technology for you? Describe proactive ways in which you could incorporate a healthy moderation of both nature and technology within your life?
The most important elements in nature for me is the overlying simplicity that provokes deep, interesting thoughts into myself, the disconnection and fresh, natural feelings it provides, the absolute beauty it provides, and the serenity and hope it ignites within me.
The most important elements of technology for me are the information it provides, the quick and easy connection it provides to my friends, family, and the entire world, the abilities it has provided us with (like the ability to cure certain diseases and other medical problems, and the ability to safely cross oceans using ships and planes), and the sleekness it show bodes everywhere it’s present.
I guess I could start exploring the back country of Powell River, see what incredible nature lies out there that I still have yet to see, but also bring a cell-phone in case of emergency, and my iPod as to make scenes of beauty even more epic, as well as provide entertainment if I end up utterly bored for some reason or another. Also, finding information on how to survive in nature using the instantly accessible internet could help to.

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE ABOVE POST WAS ORIGINALLY CREATED AS AN ESSAY FOR MY DIGITAL MEDIA CLASS.