I was sitting beside a swamp this morning at dawn. I'd been there long before first light, and as the sun broke over the horizon I photographed these duck hunters. It was beautiful; the setting, the season and the camaraderie - everything about the morning was simply beautiful.
From time to time I'm asked why I hunt, fish, hike and spent time outdoors. I'm asked why I took my children outside and got them involved in hunting, fishing, hiking and exploring outdoors. I'm asked if I'm doing the same with my grandchildren. I'm asked why I invest so much time wandering around in swamps and woods and fields with my kids.
Let me tell you one reason why I deem the analog realities of camaraderie in the wilderness as critical to the emotional and social well-being of a child. Let me tell you why the gradual, subtle and cumulative experience of shared time in the great outdoors improves the next generation.
Psychologist Philip Zimbardo (courtesy of TED.com, The Zimbardo Video) explains drug addiction as "wanting more," but he says America's sons are sinking into something else, something insidious and deadening. Today's young men have what Zimbardo calls arousal addiction, always "wanting something different."
This month's Leadership Journal reflects on Zimbardo's work and clarifies the problem. The arousal addiction of America's sons (seeking a never-ending-stream of stimulation) is behind the failure many nextGen males experience as they try to connect with women socially or to succeed academically. Leadership Journal declares: "Zimbardo cites excessive internet use, video gaming, and on-line porn as causes of this new addiction. By age 21, boys spend 10,000 hours gaming, two-thirds of that time in isolation. The average young man watches 50 porn clips per week."
"Boys' brains are being digitally rewired in a totally new way, for change, novelty, excitement, and constant arousal," Zimbardo says. "They're totally out of sync in traditional classes, which are analog, static, and interactively passive. And they're totally out of sync in relationships, which build gradually and subtly."
Is it any wonder, in a digital world where boys experience four dozen intensly erotic encounters each week, and willing women fulfill their fantasies - appearing to gush with joy as they instantly respond to whatever the lad requests - that young men lack the relational skills to socially interact with real women in the analog world?
In authentic relationships the fluctuating, evolving, and continually morphing process of gradual change described as "analog" is a far cry from the excitement, novelty and instant response experienced in a digital world amped-up by a binary code that indulges every whim.
I share Zimbardo's concern.
Leave the digital world for a while and go outdoors with your kids. They'll learn a few things:
- You are not the center of the Universe.
- The sun doesn't rise only on you.
- You can't always have everything you want.
- Some things don't turn out the way you want them to.
- Everyone doesn't have to walk the path you walk.
- It takes time to cook a meal over an open fire.
- Everyone doesn't move at the same pace. You may need to occasionally adjust and wait on somebody.
- If you want to be at the top of the hill, get moving.
- It takes time and effort to clean up the camp, and no one is going anywhere until the work is done.
- How you lose matters; how you win matters.
- If you want to see new scenery, walk over the mountain and you can.
- Nothing is instant, easy or permanent but everything is remarkable, endurable and incredible...if you work hard to make it so.
Got a son? Got a grandson? Turn off their digital-gaming-system and internet porn connection and take them outside. Play ball with 'em. Hunt. Fish. Camp. Hike. Compete. Spend some time in the real analog world with them.
Do that, and every real flesh-and-blood woman who has to deal with them in the future will thank you for it.
Proverbs 14:2 - An honest life shows respect for God; a degenerate life is a slap in his face.
So much truth in this blog. Thanks for saying what I've been praying God would encourage a man to say in so long. Keep it up Mark!
-O.File
Posted by: Olivia | October 23, 2011 at 12:56 PM
Mark, Thanks for sharing your values about family and making it alright for top-levevl leaders to make family and an appreciation for the outdoors a priority. Thanks for sharing your exceptional photos. Thanks for your leadership and example.
Posted by: Jim Stephens | October 23, 2011 at 07:59 PM
Thank you for continuing to share your thoughts on the importance of building relationships. Awesome post! Your leadership is amazing.
Posted by: Mary Teeter | October 23, 2011 at 10:11 PM
Reading your blog now for over 2 years has enriched my soul; this blog entry is powerful and phrophetic! As a pastor myself it is my joy to see young men and women move on to maturity in Christ. I loved the way you express the power of this truth in this blog! Outstanding Mark - I love the way you write, lead and live! Tom Rawls
Posted by: Tom Rawls | October 24, 2011 at 02:03 AM