Step away from the fire hose and put down the data

There has been a lot of talk lately about whether the Internet and technology makes you smarter or dumber. Clay Shirky says, "Just as required education was a response to print, using the Internet well will require new cultural institutions as well, not just new technologies." While Nicholas Carr posits, "We have to forge or strengthen the neural links needed to counter our instinctive distractedness, thereby gaining greater control over our attention and our mind. It is this control, this mental discipline, that we are at risk of losing as we spend ever more time scanning and skimming online."

Whether my tweeting, blogging and constant Internet and email use makes me more or less intelligent is a debatable point - but there is no doubt in my mind that every so often it helps me to step away from the fire house and put down the data. This afternoon I will be heading to the beautiful Wallowa Lake area and the Hell's Canyon Area. I'm leaving behind my laptop and and technology (and very happy about the new GMail Priority Inbox) This will be similar to when I went to the Oregon coast this past January. So I will be off line for the next 100 hours or so... I look forward to catching up with all your tweets, blogs and emails when I get back.

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