Click, click, flood
May 28th, 2008 by francis
I’ve been thinking more about comments that I made in response to a post by Carl Honoré on his blog. Although sitting idly and wilfing might seem like something that the Sloth Ethic would thoroughly approve of, perhaps this shouldn’t always be the case.
There may seem like no better waste of time than an unhurried surf through gentle waves of useless information, but in reality it is hard not to find yourself click-clicking away increasingly frenetically. Like in faerie, one hour passes to you and then you get up from the couch and find that four hours have passed…and for some strange reason, you’re tired. That’s not taking it easy, that’s compulsion. The same as when you find yourself checking that forum, just one more time, to see if someone has responded to that post you made. And feeling strangely dissatisfied if they haven’t. Or getting into arguments that in real life would make everyone point at the participants and laugh.
Research into gambling addiction has show that the act can bring a hit, a physical, measurable change in brain chemistry. Norepinephrine, dopamine, beta-endorphins flooding out and providing the reward that the brain craves…and wants again. If staying too long on the click trail does something similar, that would explain the compulsive nature of it (just one more link…just one more article on Metafilter…just one more look at that forum…).
And compulsion is the antithesis of the Sloth Ethic way, because part of the beauty of slowing down is that you take control of your own life again, in a world which is endlessly trying to take it from you.