It took me the entire summer to finish it, but How to Do Nothing by Jenny Odell is everything I hoped it would be and more. I underlined something on practically every page. Jenny is a talented artist and writer, a passionate college professor, and an avid bird watcher. A native to Silicon Valley and the hustle and bustle of California city life, Jenny has made a counter-cultural shift toward resisting the attention economy the internet built for us. She uses social media and participates in online dialogue, but she does so with care and intention. She reminds readers that we were never made to sustain an internet-fast pace when it comes to thought and discourse and progress. The communities we build online tend to be engineered toward our preference, too, so we miss out on diversity of thought. Jenny calls this a “context-collapsed crowd.” It’s also our neighbors that are most likely to help us in time of need and vice versa, and they are therefore deserving of our investment.
How to Do Nothing makes a case for removing oneself from the chaotic noise of life, both online and off, and replacing it with an attention toward our physical environment. She discusses everything from ancestral lands to topography to civil rights protests and political debate. It’s quite heady and cerebral, which is why it took me so long to get through. But I’m SO GLAD I DID. I bought it on a whim – the title and its beautiful cover seemed like a great quarantine read. It ended up being the most timely book I might have ever read. Jenny had no way of knowing about Covid-19 or George Floyd, but she writes about these kinds of topics (even conspiracy theories like #pizzagate!) in a way that feels like she could see the future.
This book convicted me to become more mindful of the moment I’m in, while still engaging in hard-but-necessary topics. She calls this a “refusal-in-place,” in that we can take ourselves out of the rat race while still participating in society effectively. Jenny also challenged me to notice the people and (animals!) in my immediate surroundings, and to learn the history of my neighborhood. Lastly, her words made me feel less crazy about the internet – the echo chambers, the algorithms, the division, and the giant social experiment we’re living in. The internet is a modern marvel, and it carries much potential, but it’s not perfect. Additionally, the companies that build and maintain our social networks are surely not innocent, nor do they have our best interests at heart. Anyway, I highly highly highly recommend How to Do Nothing! And now, a few titillating excerpts for your enjoyment.
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