The video shows the contrast between my hands-on experience with nature vs. technology. Through my journey of documentation, I took notice of two things; one being that a lot of the time I was intentionally having to make contact with nature for the sake of the experiment, going out of my way to awkwardly lay on the ground, slide down a hill, or run my hand through the leaves on the way to class. On the other hand, touching technology felt so common, that I had a tougher time remembering to even record it. I could have recorded myself typing on my computer multiple times every single day if I had the storage to do so. On the other hand, remembering to film moments outside felt more special.

 

Nowadays, technology is essential to most American lifestyles. You may only find yourself outside for long periods of time if you have an occupation which is specific to being outdoors. Otherwise, we physically interact with phones, computers, or other forms of tech in our day to day lives. There are of course, downsides to this choice in lifestyle. This reminds me of our reading by Jeff Smith from The Washington Post, The Amish use tech differently than we think. We should emulate them. Specifically, this quote; "The members discussed the proposal
— yes, the new machine might increase productivity, but how would community connections be affected if he began haying without the help of others, and what would happen if his neighbors adopted the same technology? The risk to social cohesion, they decided, wasn’t worth the potential gains." It goes to show that this group of people were weighing potential risks of becoming increasingly connected with technology, one of which that would be losing connection with each other. I believe the same question can be asked about our connection with the natural world. 

 

Going into the project with this idea of touch made me question the health implications of an increased touch interaction with technology, or a lack of interaction with nature.  Aside from mental impacts, which I read about on the National Library of Medicine's website; "Potential harmful effects of extensive screen time and technology use include heightened attention-deficit symptoms, impaired emotional and social intelligence, technology addiction, social isolation, impaired brain development, and disrupted sleep.". Max Fisher also touched on the mental impacts of technology in his interview which we read; I think that's a really important question because for the overwhelming majority of us, the effect is subtle. Spending more time on social media will make you significantly more polarized. It will make you more prone to feeling - internally feeling in your own self outrage and moral outrage" . I also wondered about the physical impacts of being isolated from the natural world.  According to HealthPartners.com, it's similar; When children don't go outside and spend much of their time staring at a screen instead, it may result in a shortened attention span, decreased problem-solving skills, obesity and other issues with their emotional and physical health.

Opinion | The Amish use tech differently than you think. We should ... https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/to-learn-how-to-practice-...
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https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7366948/

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​Nature deficit disorder: Can the outdoors help us feel better?HealthPartnershttps://www.healthpartners.com › blog › nature-deficit-...