What Do It Do When You Don't Know What It Do?

So school has started, and thus I have neglected to update my blog for some time now. However, I found this quote that I really wanted to share...so here it 'tis.

Digital diversions often fill much of the downtime in our lives, whether it's listening to iPods on the treadmill, surfing YouTube videos on a lunch break or maintaining a vigilant lookout for new texts or e-mails on our smartphones. But researchers at the University of California, San Francisco are discovering that those habits may keep our brains from necessary rest and ultimately hinder creativity and learning. "Almost certainly, downtime lets the brain go over experiences it's had, solidify them and turn them into permanent long-term memories," says Loren Frank, a University of California, San Francisco assistant professor in the department of physiology. When brains are constantly engaged, "you prevent this learning process." University of Michigan neuroscientist Marc Berman adds, "People think they're refreshing themselves [with digital diversions], but they're fatiguing themselves." [nytimes.com, 8/24/10]

I can totally identify with this, especially because in the last few months, I have watched approximately over 400 hrs of TV and I'm sure more hours on the computer. Because of this, I've been very out of focus and distant. Now that I am in school, thank You God, my time on the computer and TV is limited. My focus is coming back and I feel much more in control. My brother would say that the government is using these forms of media to enslave our minds, but my theory is that our brains were not created for the purpose of having a screen in front of our faces, but for relationship and creativity.