Sketches of the TED Conference

Lorna, of Lornamatic, has posted some fantastic sketches she drew at the recent TED Conference she attended. I chose the one above because it’s of Michael Pollen who wrote one of my current favourite books, The Omnivore’s Dilemma.

Why did Lorna draw the sketches?

It’s another very strange time now, while our society transitions to the role of technology in our lives and homes. Every moment is duly recorded and digitally collected in a fraction of a second, and I’m not sure what shape that leaves us in for making good decisions and actually experiencing the here and now. Sometimes (usually when I find myself mindlessly reaching for my blackberry) I start to worry that we’re all in danger of disconnecting from ourselves and our own thoughts. Putting down the technology for a few days was really refreshing and restorative.

I mention it here because I find the same thing—putting down the technology is refreshing and restorative. As much as I love what my tools let me do and know I also relish being away from them and living only through my body.

Whenever I’m at a tech conference I’m always amazed at how many people are working on their laptops, disconnected from the world around them. I wonder, why did they come?

This year I made all kinds of notes from my conference experience at Northern Voice (with Kate Trgovac, published on One Degree: Day 1, Day 2) and I found that just having my laptop open to make notes isolated me from the people around me. I tried to open it only to make a note and then to close it right away, but I’ll admit that I may have checked an email or two at the same time.