Creating a Space for Serendipity - Against Wisdom Famine

SNIPPITS FROM “PUNKT PASSAGE”- DIARY (17 hand written pages)

Since the email confirming my admission to the Punkt Smartphone-free Weekend Challenge arrived, the attention of my mind has been turned toward a more consciousness consumption of digital content respectively protection of my daily routines from being total immerge in digital technologies, e.g. not bring the gadgets into my bedroom as rule, which is a constant struggle for hyper active person, like myself.

The morning of my first digital detox with MP02, I woke up 04:30 AM my mind buzzing, as if was going the airport or similar, only now the issues on my mind were very practical open question in relation to handling my routines w/o smartphone (payments, parking, navigation, VPN access to Danish televion, Face ID, etc.) and how I’m going to remain connected en lieu multiple messaging systems (Telegram, Threema, Whatsapp, Linkedin msgr etc.). I was planning to document my journey in the digital detox universe on Twitter but decided to delete my account upon the toxic fall-outs of Elon’s disruptions. I decided to install an account dedicated to the Smartphone-free Weekend Challenge called PunktPassage.

It's a challenge to being asked for photos and SoMe, whilst trying to deep dive into digital detox. My solution was to bring the iphone along w/o sim card in order to be able to make photos during the digital detox. It would have been nice to having been able to use the iPhone for the necessities of life (e.g. electronic boarding card), but the tethering function has been disabled on my MP02 phone.

Showed the my beautiful Punkt MP02 to digital native colleague at work; it took a moment for him to realize it’s a phone, lol.

On day one a major issue was figuring out how to make CAPITAL LETTERS, because I needed the WIFI and therefore had to enter the Wifi Code, which has capital letters. W/o WIFI I have no coverage of the cell phone network.

Connecting with Car Audio failed (at least ten attempts), as in the case of my first MP02 (which I returned because of other software problems), but then again do one need to be reachable and make phone calls in the car?

At dinner with friends, I am deprived of the urge to check my iphone; remaining available for conversations and otherwise a time space for contemplations and observations.

In the garden enjoying a drink, I always look up the planes flying over … I had to pass this time.

I intended to expand the Smartphone-free Weekend Challenge to the whole month of September, but as my hearing aid refused to come back on Monday, I had to visit my acoustic consultant and the hearing is controlled by the iphone, so I had to switch it back on. My acoustic consultant documented the Punkt MP02 for the supplier (Sonova / Phonak).

I showed the MP02 to the son of a friend, who just won the Swiss Design Award (Serendipity as a Method in Desing – A KI enabled exploration into the nature of design); he named the category of the Punkt MP02 “nudging”.

Was called back on the phone by my sailing companion and he asked to turn on the video, which of course I had to reject, because not possible with the MP02.

I notice that I am more available for important conversations and simply conscious awareness and thinking/contemplations.

Today I walked to the local market in Dinard (F). I had an enormous urge to make photos with the smartphone and share the moments of life on messengers with friends and family far away, but I succeeded in turned all consciousness inward towards great inner calmness and availability to the now.

Spending the whole morning painting in solitude, there is an enormous urge to go online; it’s a conscious decision to not to and chill instead.

Back in my home, I find it enormously more challenging to stay offline in the surroundings of my normal daily routine.

ON my ipad, I was reading the NZZ newspaper and shared an article with a friend via telegram (a small breach of being offline). Funnily enough, he writes me back on MP02 messenger, because he currently travelling in China and they have blocked all foreign coms; SMS being the only way out. I.e. I’m detoxing like a tourist in China, lol.

New routine: sharing photos and answering WhatsApp et al messages on Monday mornings. Is workable albeit unusual for both sender and receiver.

During an event on site, on a Saturday, I was more available for networking and conversations, which is the core reasons for being at such events; i.e. more bang for the buck.

OVERALL CONCLUSION

We are born with an empty hard disk; an empty space to be filled during a long life long of love, compassion, and wisdom. Over time new technologies have help fill that void; over Gutenberg’s book printing technology to our BIG TECH enabled omnipresence of digital content, including hate and screen addiction promoting algorithms, which we are unable to recognize and thus build strategies against them. A child’s empty void is today pressure loaded as they pressure formular one racing cars in the pit stop ; sucking up every space, which would otherwise be filled slow healthy growth of a human being. This leading to an unseen meta-crisis of mental health illnesses and wisdom famine with dire consequences for the existence of mankind, because ideocracy is wide spreading as e result, depriving us of the ability to develop into whole human beings and living sustainable lives as individuals and a species.

USER CONCLUSION

• Only feasible with a second sim cards dedicated to the MP02
• Maybe not at all for people hearing aid, because every Monday morning I found that the left hearing was out-of-order.
• Open issue and major obstacle: how to stay connected to friends with whom you plan your weekend activities, e.g. sailing, which is weather connected and thus unplannable. As I already have converted my inner circle of family and friends, including people from other countries to the Swiss privacy protector THREEMA, it’s not feasible to force another messenger conversion down their throats. My inner circle is already traumatized from complete exit of social media, including Facebook, in 2018.

Jens Ostergaard