Screen time and face-to-face conversation
I spent almost 11 hours last Sunday staring at screens, not counting the TV. Between my phone, tablet, and computer, I ended the so-called day of rest with tired eyes, a fried brain, and a bit of frustration.
Not all those hours—an excess even for me, who works looking at screens—were wasted. I spent a good 40 minutes, for example, talking to my parents via video call. It’s hard to think of better uses for the screens that surround us than that.
Some time ago, I realized that the digital world represents a kind of “refuge,” a space where I can exercise my almost-obsession with control — or delude myself with it — without any significant consequences.
During these phases, I become obsessed with two almost trivial topics, to which I dedicate many hours of screen time: tinkering with the layout of my websites and brainstorming the replacement of all the proprietary software I use with free alternatives, like Linux on my computer and a “degoogled” Android phone.
I wasted my Sunday researching used computers that I could adopt in place of my laptop, probably the best computer I’ve ever had, one that I’d have a hard to find issues, just because… I don’t know.
