Do You Really Need It?

Sue and I were on our way to South Florida to escape the sub-zero midwestern gloom. Checking our luggage, I reached into my pocket to check my phone, and I realized that I had left it in the car. I started freaking out, and Sue asked me the obvious, “Do you really need it?”

My lizard brain panicked, “Of course, civilization depended upon it.” But after I thought about it for a few seconds, I realized that neither civilization nor Peskind Law Firm would blow up if I didn't have immediate access to my inbox or text messages. My away message said I was unavailable, and so I was—albeit involuntarily.

So what were my experiences in the digital free realm?

First, I was happier than usual when I was away. I trust my team to manage things, so there’s no reason that I remain in real-time contact with the office. I remember my former professional coach, Mark Powers*, urging me to take an annual extended sabbatical away from the office. He offered this advice so my team would learn to think and act without me. A good suggestion, but I never took it. Now, maybe I will.

I also noticed the fun of just thinking. Daniel Klein*, a comic philosopher who I’m fond of, wrote about this. He observed the benefits of just thinking without the distraction of a book or magazine (or Substack for that matter). Start with wonder and see where it leads. I enjoyed just sitting on the beach, disconnected from the world, contemplating the waves. Just following my thoughts revitalized me. Uncharacteristically, I didn’t ruminate about my to-do list, the next trial, or client drama.

My detox also gave me perspective. I remember watching a couple at breakfast with both of their heads in their phones the entire meal. We were sitting on a beautiful sunny patio overlooking the ocean, and they were oblivious. I’m sure I’ve been that guy before. Not to get all judgy, but it’s a ridiculous way to live your life. How many beautiful mornings have I missed floating in the ether rather than feeling the sea breezes?

I enjoyed being present with Sue. Not that I don't as a matter of course, but I felt even more connected without the distractions of my phone. Real life consists of sensory pleasures, interesting conversations, and engagement with real people. We’re all conned into believing reality is elsewhere. It’s not; it’s here and now.

I didn’t just zen out during the week; I read No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy* and Harold Bloom’s* How to Read and Why. I realized more profoundly the value of great books rather than two-second snippets from a news feed. Professor Ward Farnsworth* comments on digital brain rot:

We have built networks for the delivery of information–-the internet, and especially social media. These networks, too, are a marvel. But they also carry a kind of poison with them. The mind fed from those sources learns to subsist happily on quick reactions, easy certainties, one-liners, and rage. It craves confirmation and resents contradiction. Attention spans collapse; imbecility propagates, then seems normal, then is celebrated. The rational discourse between people who disagree gradually rots.

Thinking is too important to corrupt it with a regular diet of mental fast food. Consider Farnsworth’s quote the next time you mindlessly open X or Facebook.

I'm not ready to completely disconnect, but from now on, I'll intentionally leave the phone behind when I need a mental cleanse. Life’s too short not to be feeling the soothing sea breezes with someone you love. The office can wait.

*Links:

• Mark Powers can be found at https://atticusadvantage.com/team/mark-powers. Mark gave me tremendous insights into the practice and life. I valued our time together.

• Dan Klein’s writing is simultaneously funny and profound. I’d love to spend an afternoon hanging out with him.

  More can be found about Dan Klein in this short documentary:

• Cormac McCarthy is considered a primo literary artist of modern times. Here’s his obituary from the NYT: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/13/books/cormac-mccarthy-dead.html.

• The late Harold Bloom was an esteemed literature professor at Yale, among other places. While brilliant, he makes wisdom literature accessible to non-scholars. I’ve read a number of his books. Here’s Charlie Rose’s interview of him shortly after he published How to Read and Why, which I read on my trip.

• Ward Farnsworth is the Dean of the University of Texas Law School and has written on rhetoric, Stoicism, and argumentation, all topics that fascinate me. More information can be found here: http://www.wardfarnsworth.com.