Dave Eggars
By: Morgan Updyke
Right now, you’re probably asking yourself why you would want to limit your use of technology. You can talk to people, post and read hilarious tweets about roommate problems, stay updated on the lives of celebrities and acquaintances, and, most importantly, track bae. Why would you want to limit your ability to do these things? Because technology can be addicting. Admit it. How many times have you been sucked into the clutches of Facebook, only to return to reality a half hour later with at least one new fact about pop culture, the “best” macaroni and cheese recipe from Tasty, and “insightful” advice from an acquaintance’s status update? Technology is all around us and, as Dave Eggers pointed out during A Conversation with Author Dave Eggers, it is addicting and in some cases too all-knowing.
On October 10 at Penn State University, author Dave Eggers talked about his first, perspiring, night-hawk, beer-drinking college roommate, who thought he was the incarnation of F. Scott Fitzgerald (yes, you read that right), The Circle or the selection chosen for this year’s Penn State Reads, and, among other things, technology. Eggers’ book The Circle was not only chosen for this year’s Penn State Reads, but also as a finalist for the National Book Award. According to the Penn State Reads website, the program “provides a shared experience among new students, encouraging intellectual engagement within and beyond the classroom, stimulating critical thinking, and fostering a deeper connection to Penn State’s mission and core values.” As a part of this program, each freshman received a copy of The Circle and was encouraged to attend the event.
The Circle is described by McSweeney’s as “One woman’s story of ambition, idealism, and landing a job at the world’s most powerful internet company becomes a heart-racing novel of suspense, raising questions about privacy, democracy, and the limits of human knowledge.” Spoiler alert: I did not read The Circle, therefore I cannot tell you what a “Portugal brunch” is (my guess is a themed brunch) or who ends up dying in the book (spoiler number two: there is, apparently, a casualty). But I can tell you what I took away from A Conversation with Author Dave Eggers– a new view of technology.
Technology can be used as a telescope to look outward, but also as a microscope to look at ourselves.
We use technology every day, but how many people stop to think that their every move is being tracked and has the ability to be recorded? During the event, Eggers said that he questioned when the right to know supersedes the right to privacy when he was called out for opening an email and not responding to it. Awkward. Eggers also talked about how he was at a dinner party, and the party was waiting to eat because a couple was late. He was astounded when a friend whipped out his or her phone and literally tracked the other friend down instead of calling the person. How does this relate to you? Don’t tell your parents you’re in class when you’re really watching Netflix, because they may just track you down; according to Eggers they no longer need to drive the station wagon to campus and hide in the bushes to spy on you – they can do it from the comfort of their couch. If your parents can track you, it’s safe to say the government has access to much more than your location. What you shop for, read, listen to, eat, and who knows what else can be recorded because of technology, which places users of technology under a microscope. Because of this microscope that technology allows us to be under, Eggers proposes digital ethics to help answer the question he left his audience wondering, “When does our right to know supersede our right to privacy?”
Even Eggers has the ability to be addicted to technology.
As far as addictions go, a technology addiction is legitimate. While everyone has varying levels of technological skills, Eggers seems to possess a greater knowledge of technology than the average person even though he does not refer to himself as a “technologist.” Eggers has a flip phone instead of a smart phone and goes to the library for internet access. Why? To reduce the amount of technological distractions in his life. Eggers had DSL at his house for three months, but whenever he would sit down to write, he would be constantly distracted by the urge to check incoming emails. If you’re a writer, I’m sure you’re all too familiar with how easy it is to get distracted by a single thought; now, turn your email notifications on and see if that helps the delicate process at all. The technology we have today did not exist when Fitzgerald was alive and even he had trouble writing (currently thinking about tracking down Eggers’ perspiring roommate to find out what exactly Fitzgerald did to get his writing on track). If Eggers were to borrow a smart phone, you wouldn’t see him for two hours. In order to reduce the amount of technological distractions in his life, Eggers talks to everyone about their technological “systems” and what works to help them be their “best self”. That “dopamine rush” from checking your email or your phone is, according to Eggers, a real thing. Digital tools bring the best and the worst out in humanity, but it’s up to each individual person to control how much technology rules his or her life.
Limit your use of technology.
Not only will cutting back on the amount of time you spend looking at a screen give you time to be productive, but it will also limit outside eyes knowing what you do (if that bothers you). Most importantly, it will help you be your “best self”. Try it. Lock your phone in a drawer for an hour. Disconnect from the internet the next time you sit down to create your next submission for Klio. Go to dinner without your phone – gasp! What I took away from A Conversation with Dave Eggers, besides the knowledge that The Circle looks at technology in a different way and the desire to read more about it, is to simply find yourself outside of technology.
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