If you can’t entertain yourself with your own thoughts, then go ahead and text, Plato…

~ Live & Learn

From WSJ.com: Culture City: Theaters Still Vexed by the Text

Recent article in the Wall Street Journal on texting that was written for me.  Author outlines the top 10 reasons why you shouldn’t text in the theatre (and it’s applicable for meetings, movies, seminars, dinners, etc).  I’ve excerpted my top 5 of her 10…good article – I would encourage you to read it in its entirety…

9. You’re rotting your brain. (Multitasking is bad for you.  It reduces your ability to focus and think deeply about task at hand.  If you can’t think deeply, you can’t feel deeply, which means you’re missing out on a rich, creative interior life.)

8. It’s annoying to other people who are trying to watch the show.

7. Maybe the show isn’t boring. Maybe it’s you. (…if you can’t entertain yourself with your own thoughts, you’re in bad shape. For centuries, philosophers have grappled with the concepts of love, beauty, religion, the meaning of life…Have you exhausted all that? If so, then go ahead and text, Plato.)

4. You’re not “in the moment.” (…Set an intention for your practice of watching a show. Separate yourself from the demands of your world. Be mindful of what you are experiencing. Hug every breath, and inhale that theater air.)

1. You’re missing the obvious.  It’s just plain rude.

42 thoughts on “If you can’t entertain yourself with your own thoughts, then go ahead and text, Plato…”

    2. I immediately laughed when I read this – then thought, he’s right (again), this is what happens – – then thought that my laughing was completely irresponsible…How complex we humans are! Thanks again Dale for the amazingly quick wit.

      Like

      Reply

  3. I saw a sad sight the other day in a coffee shop. Three people sat at a table near me, not talking to each other. One was busy texting and the other two stared into space, obviously waiting for her to “arrive.”

    Like

    Reply

  4. THANK YOU a hundredfold for this MUCH needed enjoinder to STOP TEXTING while supposedly doing something else. One of the main lay leaders in our church has a teenage daughter who texts in church and while supposedly standingw with her mother to greet people at the side entrance on Sunday mornings!

    Like

    Reply

  5. It’s frightening how it hooks you in, though, isn’t it? I made it through life for forty-some years without texting, and now – it’s so hard not to – or too easy to just text instead of using my eyes. I draw the line in theatres and concerts, though 🙂

    Like

    Reply

  6. Great post! I love to text but with all the abbreviations, it makes you wonder how our children separate the two; “real” writing and texting. U start 2 C see sentences like these… LOL SMH!

    Thanks for sharing.

    Like

    Reply

  7. This is a pet peeve of mine. I’ve seen texting in the movies, and at plays. I can’t stand it. I also hear that teacher’s go crazy with it.

    And I know when I get a smart phone, I’ll be doing it too. But not in the movies, plays, or symphony. Have some consideration! When that phone lights up, it’s so distracting.

    Like

    Reply

  9. And this happens all the time. It’s so annoying when I see people use their stupid phones in the cinema. I mean, you came to watch a movie or whatever, then why aren’t you watching it? Arggh. Thanks for the post!

    Like

    Reply

  10. I found it quite unnerving when my niece told me she found texting more comfortable than talking…I suggested she extrapolate that forward and she realized that ultimately no one would ever talk to each other with any more depth than a severe limit implies. Also wonder what that says about our increasing discomfort with discourse period – makes me cherish the times I get to look at someone’s face or ‘hear’ their voice – even if it is in an extended written conversation.

    Like

    Reply

    1. You’re right, Mimi. The Attitude Masquerading As My 15-Year-Old Daughter freaks out if I ask her to go the neighbor’s for something, or maybe ANSWER THE PHONE, but she has no problem being friends with the whole world on twitter, tumbler, you-tube, whatever…
      It frightens me and I must keep fighting the fight but it feels like I’m losing.

      Like

      Reply

      1. Keep fighting!! My boys are adults now, but they insist that if I hadn’t hounded the hell out of them as teenagers and when in college, they wouldn’t be ahead of the game today…some of it does sink in! 🙂

        Like

        Reply

          1. Wiki: Martial law is the imposition of military rule by military authorities over designated regions on an emergency basis—(usually) only temporary—when the civilian government or civilian authorities fail to function effectively (e.g., maintain order and security, and provide essential services), when there are extensive riots and protests, or when the disobedience of the law becomes widespread. In most cases

            Like

    2. My son and his friend were sitting on the couch texting. I said “isn’t it a shame that you are 3 feet from each other and can’t carry on a conversation.” My Son’s reply: “Dad, we’re not texting each other.”

      Like

      Reply
  12. Pingback: Texting…. « Miffed67 -Dot- Com

  13. Military law doesn’t sound very Canadian…
    But my husband (who was not born Canadian) keeps reminding me that our household is not a democracy. He would have no problem with this.
    It’s scary, isn’t it? Raising these teenage attitudes. The mother’s heart in me keeps wanting them to LIKE me. For the record, my other 2 aren’t like this – just the baby who has hated being the youngest from the day she entered the world.
    Sorry – don’t mean to be so down. Even we optimists have our moments.

    Like

    Reply

    1. As to not sounding Canadian (Wiki says Marshall Law was imposed in Canada during The October Crisis of 1970. Don’t even know what crisis this was and I was in Canada.

      As to having moments, I champion that cause!

      Like

      Reply

      1. Oh that was the FLQ crisis – I actually remember that – my parents were terrified. A diplomat was killed in Quebec. In Anglo small town Saskatchewan I think we were afraid the French or Communists (probably the same thing in most minds!) were taking over or separating or something.

        Like

        Reply

          1. …and I had forgotten that the War Measures Act was imposed. I was really young.
            I guess that throws my previous objection out the window then.

            Like

  14. I once attended a choral workshop and sat next to a teenage girl, who could text while singing. And during the cricket season, one of the basses in the church choir exchanges texts with the assistant organist during choral evensong. There’s a noticed pinned in the church porch – it says: ‘Please turn off your mobile. God is the only one you need to get through to here’. Nevertheless, not everybody remembers and sometimes a phone goes off in the middle of a service, and the perpetrator usually plasters a painfully innocent expression on his face (yes, hate to say it’s usually a man) or looks at his neighbour as if disowning an eggy stonker.

    Like

    Reply

Leave a Reply