In productivity and business spaces online, a great deal of attention and work is put toward unpacking the proposition of technology as a tool for organization, ideation, and execution. As someone deep in this niche, I’m generally a fan of the tips and tricks shared. I get sucked into the Desk Tour and 7 Habits Youtube videos. I grew up on Tim Ferris books and the historical concepts of optimization and efficiency blended with tech.
The trouble is that tech may be good at getting us on top of things in the short term, but it’s woefully deficient at getting us to the bottom of things in the long term.
Shallow ties and bad-faith conversation tactics abound in our digital forums. Our tools afford us a cursory review of these documents or those articles. They show us just enough of the widest possible range to prompt the feeling of comprehension without ever forcing us to undergo the laboring of comprehension.
There’s a reason a college degree, experience at a job, and valid certifications are still so highly valued today: the process in attaining these things through struggle forms a person. Skillshare courses or years spent chronically online don’t lead to wisdom. Technology tends toward the bitey, the quick, and the contextless. Without our feet firmly planted on the solid ground of deep research, earned experience, and a life of connection, we will fall prey to staying atop the waves when the true treasure is on the ocean floor.
