17
Feb

A Sunday morning snicker

Posted by Steven Hodson in Sunday, February 17th 2008      

C'mon tell me you didn't believe this During the past week one of the stories that gained some traction was one written by Linda Stone about email apnea and the risk to one’s body from having excessive amounts of email to deal with. Of course it was picked up by various tech bloggers and made it’s way onto Techmeme. Heck even I posted a link about it on the Elite Tech News feed at reddit. In my own defense though I did it more as a humor point than anything else.

Then this morning Tony Hung over at Deep Jive Interests had a piece about it in which he pretty well tore the whole idea apart - thankfully. For those of you who might not know who Tony is; other than one of the best bloggers around, he is currently an intern doctor studying for his Royal College Exams in Canada (which means if you are reading this Tony — tsk tsk you get back to studying :) ).

Anyway in his post he uses his medical training - and humor (which portends a great bedside manner) to effectively point out just how silly the whole idea of email apnea is. Through it though he also raises an important point about the blogging world

What’s my point in all of this?

Just how important media — and perhaps, medical — literacy is in this great big world of New Media. That its important to really question the kinds of stories and propositions you come along, as more and more people are becoming self-publishers after a fact (blogging), or contributing to such publications.

In this particular piece, coming to the conclusion that reading email will kill you is tantalizing, in a kind of tabloidish kind of way, and even makes sense from a kitchen-sink kind of logic if you follow the piece.

Specifically with this post, and with all due respect to Ms. Stone, there are several *large* caveats with the leaps in logic she makes, and its important that in the discourse of things, its pointed out.
In “new media”, I find that the need to vet stories is obviously less strong, as the need to have content and be first becomes the first priority. We’ve often seen in the Tech side of the blogosphere that this kind of attitude is “ok” so long as the original post is updated.

Personally the whole idea didn’t even pass the give me a break sniff test but it is nice to have a professional opinion thrown into the mix and that is one of the cool things about blogging. At some point there will be an expert than can and will throw some cold light of day on something you have written. Sensationalism might work for the 6 o’clock news or the tabloids but bloggers have the time and the resources to rise above this kind of thing - and we should.

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    The only leap made in my HuffPo piece is this: frequently, people inhale and then hold their breath when they do their email and that, breath holding is highly correlated with certain physiological consequences -- thus, breathing is a good idea and it's good to notice whether you are, in fact, holding your breath, or breathing. Further, posture, when working at a computer is often compromised -- arms forward, head forward, and that can contribute to more restricted breathing. Paying attention to posture is also a good thing. As I researched this -- I observed and spoke with (about their own observations of themselves) close to 200 people, in a variety of settings. I interviewed physicians, cardiologists, neuroscientists, medical researchers, body workers, and chiropractors and read a number of papers on breath holding and physiological consequences. Before posting the piece, I had it fact-checked by medical researchers and physicians. The intention of the piece was to shine on a light on breathing -- in any context, especially around technology. Any conclusions suggesting "email is bad," miss the point. Technology is NEUTRAL. What we do with it and how we do it, is everything.
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    Thanks Steve. I *should* be getting back to work. :)

    ... but one more thing, before I go (well, two):

    1. Interns are first year residents. The idea of doing your royal college exams when you are in your first year are enough to soil any resident's pants multiple times. They only make you write the exams when you're in your 4th year.

    2. Can I give you an idea what its like to be an intern? Read this: http://www.neonatology.org/pearls/pimping.html {I am now on the giving end of what pimping is, having been on the receiving end for many, many, many years. :) }

    Cheers
    t @ dji
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    Thanks for the clarification Tony. I knew you were near the end of your ordeal :) but wasn't sure how all the levels are classified here north of the border so - wrongly (instead of "fact checking" :) ) - went the easy route. See how easy it is jeez ... you'd think I'd heed my own advise LOL

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