To the Editor: 

Very close to a sense of defeat in trying to engage in an intentional activity. It feels as though I am in a jabbering madhouse of self-important people trying to get my attention.

The computer is a big part of this chaotic distraction. The computer has become the tool of choice for people coming up with new pretexts for convincing me (and countless others) that we need what they have to offer.

Perhaps there is hope in thinking of this as a “we” rather than as an “I”- that I’m in good company, and, as it is said, there is strength in numbers.

But how can I, or we, constrain activities that were not remotely dreamed of when the basic regulations and guidebooks for human behavior were written? Either we try to piece together some imaginary extrapolation from what is in the existing instructions, or we write a new users' manual. 

Easier said than done.

Bob Sanderson
Marion