The Tamagotchi is one of the more curious phenomena of the 90’s: A keychain with a virtual digital pet, which had to be nurtured, fed and played with. Otherwise it would die.
Peak Tamagotchi was finally achieved when the toys were forbidden at school, because the children skipped lessons in order to feed their pets.
We now laugh at the fact that in those days real life was ignored, in order to take care of something computer generated. We think ourselves wiser.
The Tamagotchi didn’t die out however, but evolved into cell phones, tablets, and smart watches. Instead of digital pets on key chains, our fixation is now drawn by social media. Their algorithms have become the advanced weaponry to manipulate our attention.
Since focus on signal and ignoring noise is the only superpower that we truly control, the lure of the modern Tamagotchi requires that we all deploy advanced counter measures .
We need to shore up our defenses to protect our focus.
I have resolved that I will never respond to any interruption from a non-human. What’s yours?
2 Comments
If we are a knowledge worker, functioning in isolation, we create/construct/develop etc., but we still will have to interact with others at some time. If we isolate ourselves to our schedules, how do we interact with others, on their schedules, if we all have tight boundaries? Do we take a form like the spokes of a wheel, working/creating on the perimeter and getting together at the core on some schedule or other sequence? Would this be the idea for the Apple headquarters, the circular building that stimulates physical interaction, planned or unplanned? Like a living organism?
I answer phone calls [voicemail] and text messages on my schedule. Urgent parties have a special ringtone, all others might be important but not urgent.
Your system is a good one. If you’re clear from the outset about how you work, people tend to adapt to your schedule.