I tripped across a comment the other day about the political demonstrations and political actions that are mushrooming across the country. (Thank goodness.) The speaker I was listening to remarked that the number of actions and the number of people participating contained within them a reaction to our enforced isolation during the Covid pandemic.

My head kinda snapped up at that with a “hmmm” for emphasis. I haven’t seen much out there in the info-sphere about the lessons learned during those years. Often when there’s a big topic of interest, bits of it float around like the seeds from the cottonwood trees that sail through the air around here in early June. But that has not been the case. The pandemic is, at best, ignored, forgotten.

During the pandemic, one of the most common topics online was the epidemic of loneliness and isolation that accompanied the Covid shutdown. When that finally ended, we were all a bit like mice clinging to our hidey holes because we had slowly learned it was more comfortable and safe there than anywhere else.

It took me a while to realize I had abandoned normal socialization activities such as volunteering, going to art events, taking walks, getting together with folks for a meal, etc. etc. It was easier to stay at home with a book or to watch something on PBS. Post-pandemic, I had to be more deliberate about getting out.

I think we’re still re-learning how to socialize.

There’s an analogy here that brings me around to technology, and the balance we are reaching for as we tumble about in the tsunami of devices and “services” and subscriptions that we never needed before. And, I would argue, don’t need now.

It’s a topic that crops up often nowadays. Devices such “dumb” phones and “dumb” TVs are increasing in popularity. There are summer camps for teens that do not allow any technology at all. Groups that participate in silent sustained reading–no audio books allowed, just paper and ink–are now in every state.

Come to find out, what the tech bros are selling is seen with increasing suspicion and dislike.

Just for an example, the iPhone was introduced only in 2007. It was ubiquitous by 2010. Nowadays, they are difficult to escape. They have long ceased to be a tool for us to use. Now they use us.

How long will it take us to recover from this epidemic?