Staff Lecture: The World Beyond Your Head

28 September 2017

Mr Peachey took Matthew Crawford’s book, ‘The World Beyond Your Head: How to Flourish in an Age of Distraction’, as the basis for his lecture about how we connect with reality in a highly visual age – the ‘age of distraction’. Mr Peachey recalled the moment that set him on a path to reconnecting with the ‘real world’ and the things he values; he and some friends had just seen an excellent play, but just minutes after leaving the theatre he realised they (himself included) were all glued to their mobile phones, rather than discussing the production.

As well as Matthew Crawford’s book, Mr Peachey highly recommended we read (slowly):

The Shallows – Nicholas Carr

Technopology – Neil Postman

Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other – Sherry Turkle

Anything by Marshall Mcluhan

In summary, Mr Peachey argued that in order to fully experience the ‘world beyond our heads’, we need to: look again at our relationship with technology; embrace slow education and work with our hands.

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