Rediscover Something Analog
August 11, 2026
“Unplug and play.”
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Baseball has reminded me of something technology occasionally makes us forget: some experiences cannot be accelerated. I can research almost anything in seconds and communicate with thousands of people by pushing a button, but when I step onto a baseball field, none of that matters. The pitcher still has to throw the ball, the hitter has to react and the game unfolds at its own pace. At this stage of my life, I still play competitive baseball, and part of its appeal is precisely that it demands my complete attention. When you’re standing at third base or on a pitching mound, you’re not checking email or worrying about the latest headline. For a few hours, you’re simply playing baseball. Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi described this kind of complete absorption in an activity as “flow” in his book Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, which I read years ago and remains a classic today.
Your version doesn’t have to involve a baseball glove. It might be golf, gardening, woodworking, fishing, painting, restoring an old car, playing cards or reading an actual book. The WHO notes that physical activity undertaken during recreation and leisure contributes to both physical and mental health, but I think there is another benefit as well: analog activities give our attention somewhere meaningful to go. We have become very good at filling empty moments with screens. Maybe we shouldn’t fill all of them. In an age increasingly dominated by algorithms designed to capture our attention, choosing what deserves that attention may become one of the most important luxuries we have.
