Different Perspectives

There is a large difference between what something physically is and what it could represent. Contructionalist John Stewart refers to this as “that-it-is” and “what-it-is.” He argues that “That which one sits on exists, in some sense, separate from the sitter, but what it thoroughly depends on the sitter’s linguistically imbued and socially constrained culture, interests, and agendas.” The “that-it-is” is it’s physical actuality while the “what-it-is” completely depends on what people construe it to be. A simple example of this would be in the United States a thumbs-up is a positive indicator of approval while in countries such as Iran, Greece, and Russia it is a sign of disrespect similar to the middle finger. Our culture defines each of us and objects around us, “In a word- we are all products of our culture. Our desires, identity, fears, longings, etc. are all products of collective meaning that we actively choose to “make” ourselves with” (Principles of Communication Theory 39). Each object could have a different meaning to someone across the world, so there are cases of the difference between “that-it-is” and “what-it-is” around us at all times. In this essay, I will explore the different perspectives that people have on objects and symbols in their everyday lives and how Odell uses this idea in her book How to do Nothing. People’s perceptions of something can determine its value, importance, and the connection that it has to them and their culture.

Jenny Odell’s book, How to Do Nothing, is a hardcover book with pink and white flowers on the front. In actuality, it is paper with words on it, but its meaning for existence is an act of activism. Odell is not completely anti-technology because she does realize the benefits it has, but she wants people to be self-aware and have a healthier relationship with it. She says the purpose of writing her book is to,

“contribute to activism, mostly by providing a rest stop for those on their way to fight the good fight. I hope that ‘doing nothing’ in opposition to a productivity-obsessed environment can help restore individuals who can then help restore communities, human and beyond” (Odell xxii).

Activism can come in many different forms. For the Black Lives Matter Movement, a fist in the air means so much more than a hand gesture. It is a symbol of black power which started in 1966 and continues to be a representation of resistance against police brutality to this day. Although Odell is not protesting on the streets or presenting a singular symbol to the public, she wrote a book as her own form of activism. The “that-it-is” is the printed out pages, but the “what-it-is” is a self-help guide for anyone reading it to better their lives without so much technology. In the book, Odell writes about “how to do nothing,” but “doing nothing” is not tangible. Each person could interpret this phrase and Odell’s advice differently. Before reading this, “doing nothing” to me was not doing anything productive and simply watching a movie or sitting on my phone. This is because I am constantly on the go and my idea of doing nothing is relaxing and using technology. To Odell doing nothing is the complete opposite, to her, it is taking a step back from technology and media and resisting giving all of her attention to technology. Odell says that

“We submit our free time to numerical evaluation, interact with algorithmic versions of each other, and build and maintain personal brands. […] [This book] is a field guide to doing nothing as an act of political resistance to the attention economy” (Odell XI).

Odell’s form of activism is within these pages teaching the reader how to do her version of nothing. A person may pick up this book and perceive it to be a book about taking a vacation, instead, Odell is trying to articulate how to change people’s lifestyle by resisting the attention economy. Odell’s goal is so much more than to entertain a reader, she wants to incite a change in people’s minds through her writing.

Something that Odell does to do nothing is bird watching. This is her way of “remaining in place,” taking in nature and discovering new things about the world around her instead of staying inside and watching videos of birds on the internet. Bird watching led her to discover and learn more about the animals that coexist with her every day. Odell encourages people to resist the attention economy because, “it leads to awareness, not only of how lucky [we are] to be alive but to ongoing patterns of cultural and ecological devastation around [us] […] In other words, simple awareness is the seed of responsibility” (Odell xxii). It leads to more awareness racially, environmentally, and economically. Instead of people constantly having their heads in their phones, computers, or televisions a person can become truly cognizant of their surroundings and the life and community that they are a part of by following Odell’s advice in this book. Odell takes something as simple as bird-watching and is able to spin it into a different perception of the world without technology and the attention economy. There are many simple ideas or objects in this book yet there are layers upon layers of different meanings inside of them. An example Odell wrote about was of a piece from a Finnish artist called Bag Lady,

“[A woman] spent days roaming a mall in Berlin while carrying a clear plastic bag full of euro bills. […] ‘While this obvious display of wealth should have made her the ‘perfect customer,’ she only aroused suspicion from security guards and disdain from shopkeepers. Others urged her to accept a more discreet bag for her money’” (Odell 64).

The “that-it-is” is a bag with money, but the purpose of it is specifically to see people’s reactions. Depending on the person their perception of what the bag represented and what she should do with the bag was different. Because of each person’s history and culture, their perspective on this situation was different. Odell’s book of activism is full of things that have a “that-it-is” and “what-it-is” because everything in this world is not as black and white as we sometimes think.

The object that seems to be most important to me is a black box with a cow print case on it. My iPhone is in my hand or my pocket at all times and at the end of the day, it sits right next to me on my bed. I have an addiction to this object. When Odell was on her accidental digital detox she noticed that “[her] phone appeared as an object; it was no longer a portal to a thousand other places, a machine charged with dread and potentiality, or even a communication device. It was just a black metal rectangle” (Odell 31). I would never think of this device so simply. To me, my phone is a connector to the world with infinite features. With a touch of a button, I can receive news, post updates and pictures, communicate with others, check the weather, and so much more. It is a black box, but what it is capable of is truly endless. Reading Odell’s book, however, makes me think how much my life is controlled by this object. Technology is such a large part of my culture, I grew up and now live with a normalized obsession with media and technology, so I cannot imagine a life without it. Although the generation of my grandparents doesn’t share the same perception of iPhones as my generation does. It is not as important in their everyday lives because that is not the culture they grew up with. The culture I live in has made phones a necessity in everyday life, so it is much more than its materials and it always will be. Odell notices in this time and age technology is important and the purpose of her writing is not to hate on all modern technology. Instead, Odell says,

“We need to be able to do both: to contemplate and participate, to leave and always come back, where we are needed […] To stand apart is to take the view of the outsider without leaving, always oriented toward what it is you would have left. It means not fleeing your enemy”(Odell 61).

This quote embodies Odell’s opinion towards technology, it may be an enemy in some sense but it is important that we do not completely disassociate ourselves from it. She believes that we need to be able to step back, observe, and “contemplate” the world around us but also be able to “participate” and be able to complete our responsibilities. As important technology is to me, reading Odell’s book made me realize that it is not everything and that I am able to resist the attention economy while still doing what I need to do in life that involves technology.

Since March there has been a virus that has directly affected each and every person in some way across the entire Earth. A virus with symptoms just like the flu has drastically changed human’s way of life. Even though each country has the same virus, everyone’s culture decides “what-it-is” to us. Even within the United States people’s different desires affect how they treat this virus. Is it severe enough to shut everything down? Do we even need to wear masks? While another side urges everyone to stay home unless it is necessary to leave and to always wear a mask for the protection of themselves and others. To many, this non-living thing has been the most detrimental thing to happen in their lives. To some, it could’ve been a time to take a step back from their busy lives to “do nothing.” With no work and being forced to stay home, this pandemic could have been a beneficial time to reconnect with your family. Personally, I thought that everything would return back to normal by the middle of the summer, but now we are living in a completely new world where masks are normalized to wear in public, and socially distancing is a commonly used phrase. Odell would not like this different way of living because it is entirely centered around technology. Instead of going to high school and college, we are rolling out of bed and logging onto Zoom for class. To see our friends, we have to look at their posts on Instagram, call, or text instead of having real face-to-face interactions. Even some doctors’ appointments are moved virtually on platforms such as Virtual Care, Teledoc, or Amwell. We rely so much more on technology and media and if we were to “resist the attention economy” right now we would be completely separated from human interaction, work, and school.

Every day we look at objects as more than they are at face value because without doing so we would not be able to learn from our past. Our phone is more than a black box, COVID-19 is more than a virus, a book is more than words on paper, and doing nothing has countless meanings. Jenny Odell reminds us that technology is not everything and life is more than our Instagram followers. She takes the “that-it-is” of technology and interprets it as something humans do not need as much as, even though other people believe that technology is everything. Odell is able to show us that we can change what our “what-it-is” of technology is. It is not as important to our everyday lives as some people think.