Presence and Technology

Presence, to me, is being fully in this moment of now. In addition to being able to fully enjoy each moment, presence also heightens our creativity because all creativity happens in the moment of now.

There is a famous storyline from comedian Jerry Seinfeld where he says it’s his observation that wherever we are we want to be somewhere else. He speaks of how when we’re home we want to go out, and when we’re out we feel like we need to be getting back home. Of course, he is exaggerating for laughs, but it’s funny because of the bit of truth in it.

Technology is essentially neutral in its impact on presence. It is our relationship to technology, how we interact with it, that determines whether it will facilitate more presence or whether it takes away from our experience of presence.

I observed at a recent Olympics opening ceremony…