Last week, a part on my notebook computer broke. The machine still runs but I can’t cart it around anymore. It’s now stationary in my library and I’m online less frequently as a result. It’s inconvenient to trot to the back of the house. When it was right there, it was easy to check email whenever the urge hit me.
I’m appalled to discover just how often that urge does hit. Like a rat in a Skinner box, I’d become conditioned by infrequent, random rewards to keep pressing that lever. Now, even though it’s not sitting next to me anymore, I still find myself thinking about “getting on the computer” every few minutes.
The worst part is that I knew what was happening to me and couldn’t break the cycle. I’d frequently tell myself that I should put the computer away, only to turn it back on moments later. Thank goodness for shoddy parts. I’m too cheap to spend money repairing the machine or replacing it, so I’ll have to find something else to do with my time instead of continuously reinforcing a useless conditioned reflex.
1 response so far ↓
1 Terry Odell // Mar 15, 2010 at 1:28 pm
We finally arrived at a temporary rental in Colorado. The house we’re renting a small (very small) piece of is wired for internet access, but so far, we haven’t been able to get the PC onto the system. So, I can access files, but no Internet or moving them from laptop to PC and back without the “old fashioned” flash drive system. It’s amazing how dependent we become on each technological advance.
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