Finding connections

Governor: Park-goers say they want better Internet

Aformer vice president of user growth at Facebook — the title even sounds like the job was the corporate equivalent of drug dealer — told an audience of Stanford students in 2017 he felt guilt for his role in the negative effects of social media.

Chamath Palihapitiya said the “shortterm dopamine-driven feedback loops that we have created are destroying how society works” and “eroding the core foundations of how people behave by and between each other.”

Strong words for the device-driven culture we’ve permitted to infiltrate every aspect of our lives.

Perhaps his words got a little too close to the observable truth. As a society, we are hooked on our smart phones.

Want some further evidence, a little closer to home?

Last week, Gov. Asa Hutchinson visited Rogers, where officials from around the country had come for the annual conference of the National Association of State Park Directors. He’s got a lot to tout about his home state, where tourism comes second only to agriculture as Arkansas’ largest industry.

Whether it’s at Devil’s Den in south Washington County, the Crater of Diamonds in Pike County or Mount Magazine, the state’s highest point in Logan County, Arkansas state parks deliver easy access to natural spaces and campgrounds for resident and visitors. Such parks are outstanding getaways from the hustle and bustle of daily life, affordable for those of us who don’t own swaths of wooded acreage to which we can retreat.

And what was it Gov. Hutchinson told the state park directors? One of the most common complaints Arkansas park directors get is slow Internet connections.

OK, point, it seems you’ve been missed.

Oh, we get it. Not everyone who visits a state park is looking for a complete disconnect. As with so many aspect of our lives, our devices have simply become ubiquitous additions. And apps can deliver great information that enhances a visit to a natural area. Star gazing? There are apps that show exactly which celestial bodies can be seen and where or apps that deliver other outdoors enthusiasts’ tips for sight-seeing.

An advertisement the other day showed a charging system designed for families to take camping. Kids in the ad huddled in a tent, devices connected by cords to boost their batteries as they played on them in broad daylight. Now, we appreciate a tent as much as the next Arkie, but getting out of them is one of the best ways to experience the outdoors. Getting our noses out of our devices is a pretty good way, too.

Maybe we’re just getting a little snooty. We don’t like it, either, when someone floats the Buffalo River and chooses to strap a blaring radio to their kayak or canoe. Again, it seems to miss the point of getting out there.

People enjoy their outdoor moments in different ways, we suppose. Maybe in the plugged-in society we’ve embraced, we should just be happy people go outdoors to experience the real thing rather than just skimming through a digitized version on their smart phones.

More power to them, so to speak. But please, do everyone a favor and turn the devices off every once in a while. Listen to the wind rustle through the trees. Hear the screech of a circling hawk. See the sunlight dance on the surface of a stream.

It still looks better in person than on a small screen.