Thinking outside the box

I was considering the other day how my life, and many of my peers, is reduced into several little boxes - physical boxes, not the theoretical one of whats been done before. Right now, I am typing into one box. I routinely check another to see if I have any new text messages which appear in a neat little different box. I spend most of my time inside of this larger box, even though it has a window, it is still a box. Six walls to contain my life.

Was it always this way for humanity? Have recent technological developments only made this more clear lately? Perhaps it is a human necessity to compartmentalize your life. I imagine even Cro-Magnon lived in boxes. The box of his cave, the box of his hunting grounds and need to find water. Now, my "boxes" are physically represented. Technology has allowed for the physical divide between what I need, or decided I need, and what I do not need. Even my physical needs come in boxes: oatmeal, pasta, beer.

So what does this mean? Good or bad? I think sometimes convenience can weaken character. There is some value in process. For instance, the value of food and sustenance can be earned by making pasta from scratch or going out and catching fish for dinner (two things I have never done). However, having these necessities so readily available allows for spare time for leisure activities. We live in a society of excess which means it is easy to take an advanced composition class, or spend your life as a painter. If food was scarce and we were poor, we couldn't do these things. We'd have to farm or peddle our wares or do something more directly related to income and upkeep. So, the question comes to mind, are we using our extra time effectively? Are these boxes that streamline my workflow and shrink my area of attention actually benefiting me as a human?

It is hard to say. I know I waste a lot of time on the internet reading Cracked.com articles or watching The Young Turks blog, but I don't know if I believe it is a waste of time. I like those things because I usually agree with them and my brain is engaged more than when I am playing video games or reading most books. Interested in a career in humanities, maybe as a writer, maybe as a freeloader, I feel that this engagement is valuable. Keeping a brain turned on is a very difficult thing to do, and I am coming to find my own definition of what this means. My brain is turned on when I am interacting. If I am writing, that is where my mind is. If I am watching Cenk on TYT (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGDdCDTNhWg&feature=sub) I feel that same level of engagement. I am listening to his words instead of letting the latest episode of Man vs. Food bounce off my head. I feel like engaging your brain whenever possible is the key to self improvement. It is a fight. I find myself craving the sweet release of Warcraft III or a bottle of whiskey, but I know when I try to remember what I did during the hours under the influence of either, I have a much harder time remembering. Therefore I think it is a form of self-stagnation, and I think this is counterproductive to the ideal role of humans, in my opinion, of philosopher kings (It's been so long since I've read Plato I can't actually defend that, but it sounds good, dunnit?).

Tired of being "engaged". Gonna play Warcraft III. PEACE