Experiments with Society

Man is a social animal - One of the most commonly used phrases to initiate a discussion on the evolution of communication. What set my mind racing was the movie: Into the Wild. Alexander Supertramp speaks about how man needs to go back to his roots and be sane and uncivilized again. Now, that is a far out concept because there are too many things about modern life that man enjoys.
One of the fundamental aims of yoga is to connect the mind, body and soul (whatever they may be). I understand it as a reason to go back, forget things and be natural. There are a few humans who like to go away, be it for an hour, be it for a week. What this does is simple, it allows man to disconnect and in effect, re-connect with him/herself.
The mania of mobile phones and the internet has weirdly influenced human behavior. Facebook, Gmail, cell phones, etc leave no element of surprise. It is more and more difficult to surprise a lost friend, be independent, etc. You are always reachable. Most people feel handicapped without cell phones - something I empathize with.

My experiment that started today morning was to disconnect myself from Facebook. There is not much that I would do on that website, but I saw it draining away some of my time. Time that I could put to use by reading, resting or going out for a walk. Yes, I will lose my ability to entertain myself (a bit). But that is what an experiment is. I don't think it is too difficult to do this; however, FB is such a large part of one's life nowadays that it is akin to eating food and chewing it.

I believe I will succeed. I have no idea what I will gain from this exercise, but it will be interesting - that is for sure. I still look forward to a week without my cell phone. Nobody may call you in a week, but the cellphone allows one to rid oneself of anxiousness regarding safety, civilization and all that jazz.
I shall do the cell phone thing one day. Hopefully.