I admit I have a borderline checking compulsion.
Email made me this way. Chat programs made me this way. Pagers before that, and cell phones.
And I didn't realize it really until my hard drive died. I felt alone. Lost. Panicky. I didn't know what was going on and it really made me feel quite unpleasant.
Modern technology feeds my checking compulsion. I read an article where a woman chartered a helicopter from her cruise ship, where internet wasn't, to the mainland where internet was, so she could check her email. All she had in her inbox was spam but she felt the trip was worth it.
I'm not yet there, but I can sympathize.
Now I can see why the Blackberry is called the "crackberry".
It's the all-in-one-checking-compulsion-gadget.
I'd probably love one.
But my condition is only borderline, so it is not necessary.
Not yet anyway.
I am eyeing an iPhone for myself in a year or so.
2 comments:
Well, I can only agree. It's sad, but true. By the way, your post made me think about famed computer scientist Donald Knuth and his take on email:
http://www-cs-faculty.stanford.edu/~knuth/email.html
The real question is, does your compulsion extend past the world of technology? Do you check 3-7 times to make sure you door is locked? Or that you have your keys? Or that your fly is zipped? If so, you may be able to join the checking behavoir club. And that is just a stepping stone on the way to bigger and better forms of neurosis.
Post a Comment