Skip to Content

A mindful proposal: Can you handle 24 hours of solitude?

More
Text SizeAAA

Filed under: Extracurriculars

In our BlackBerried, Twittered, internet-overload culture, our nervous systems are too overstimulated for us to have the time to think. My father, Dr. Leo Chalupa, a neurobiologist and head of research for George Washington University, in 2006 wrote an essay advocating overworked, web-junkie Americans to take 24 hours of absolute solitude. No books, no movies, no texting, no media intake or interaction of any kind. It's just you and your thoughts. For 24 hours. Pretty scary, huh?

"Unless you've spent time in a monastery or in solitary confinement, it's unlikely that you've had to deal with this issue," my father wrote. "The only activity not proscribed is thinking. Imagine if everyone in this country had the opportunity to do nothing but engage in uninterrupted thought for one full day a year! A national day of absolute solitude would do more to improve the brains of all Americans than any other one-day program."

This week, New York's cover story "In Defense of Distraction" presented some shocking facts about what technology is doing to our brains. "People who frequently check their e-mail have tested as less intelligent than people who are actually high on marijuana," Sam Anderson writes. And although technology has made our lives easier and entertainment cheaper, Anderson writes, pure, unadulterated, distraction-free thinking has become a luxury; what we really need, he argues, is time to think: "This sort of free-associative wandering is essential to the creative process; one moment of judicious unmindfulness can inspire thousands of hours of mindfulness."

There is a hope that managing and learning to master all this technology will make our brains adapt and evolve us into super-multitaskers. If anyone knows multitasking, it's my old man: hitting the gym every day by 7 a.m., overseeing a busy laboratory, writing grants and meeting grant deadlines in a competitive environment for science funding, being a babysitting grandpa, cooking, housekeeping, gardening, caring for my aging grandmother, and being a doting husband and dad. The only stimulant he uses to keep up with all these demands is herbal tea. Everything else is good old-fashioned prioritizing, organization, and a zero-tolerance policy on procrastination. (I did not inherit those particular genes.)

So I asked my dad, for WalletPop's "Blogtalk Radio Show," how technology is shaping our brains, how to be an effective multi-tasker free of technologies' distractions, and about his radical idea of a daylong period of solitude. Could you do it?
Subscribe to Walletpop

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Readers' Choice Winners for Best in Winter Travel
Votes have been cast for Best Ski Hotel, Best International Ski Destination, Best Caribbean Cruise ...
Readers' Choice Awards for Best in Sweets
Is there a maker of fine chocolate candy that makes your mouth water just thinking about it? Who ...

Julia Scott
Julia Scott Filed under: Bargain Babe

Borders coupon for 33% off

Here is the latest coupon from Borders. Get 33% off any one regular-priced item today through Thursday, Feb. 11. Some exclusions. Online use coupon code BSL7210X. One per person. The coupon also ...
Tom Barlow
Tom Barlow Filed under: Food

No seed shortage for gardeners this spring, despite reports to the contrary

Thanks to the recession, more Americans are interested in growing their own vegetables. Bad timing, according to an Associated Press report that seeds for some popular veggies might be in short supply ...
Mitch Lipka
Mitch Lipka Filed under: Recalls, Consumer Ally

Deaths spark crib recall: CSPC says to stop using Generation 2 and ChildESIGNS cribs

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is issuing a crib recall and warning anyone with Generation 2 Worldwide or "ChildESIGNS" drop side cribs to stop using them following reports of the deaths ...
Zac Bissonnette
Zac Bissonnette Filed under: Real Estate

Survey says? Homeowners think real estate collapse is over

A Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan survey published last week suggests that most homeowners think the worst is over, and don't anticipate further declines in the value of their properties in ...

Headlines from WalletPop Partners