O
ne of my New Year’s
resolutions
was
to
live a life consisting
of less phone time, including
checking it less often
throughout the day.
Current status: little
to no progress. At this
point, all I have done
is forgotten to bring
my phone a few times
when I go to leave
for class. When I do
have it, I still check
it
directly
before
and after my classes,
during meals and any
other spare moment in between.
I am addicted to checking
texts,
emails,
Facebook,
Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat,
weather and every other type
of
notification
or
app
that
can
immediately
give
me
information on what is going on
in the world. If my phone screen
does not light up throughout
the day, I assume something
is amiss or I am out of the loop
that I feel I need to be “in.” Even
while writing this, I have been
distracted several times by the
little blue notification light on
my phone screen even though I
know it is an email that does not
need a reply right now.
As I walk around campus, I
see I am not the only one whose
life is driven by the number of
dings their phone emits every
day. This lifestyle is what leads to
publications and blog posts titled
“I quit social media for a month,”
as if the act is a life-changing
moment that the world needs
to know. But perhaps one of the
subtlest effects of social media is
our habits of turning to these sites
when we have nothing else to do.
Instead, we should be turning
to the friends and environment
around us for inspiration.
This is not an attempt to bash
social media; there are many
useful and enjoyable aspects of
these platforms, and it would be
hypocritical
of
me
to call for a complete
ban when I have no
intention of deleting
my own accounts any
time soon. No, this is a
call to begin resisting
the urge to check your
social accounts when
you have nothing else
to do. I want you allow
yourself to be bored.
Traditionally,
the
possibility of boredom is seen
as a negative. There are many
studies
suggesting
boredom
leads to a decrease in academic
success; however, there are also
studies that define several types of
boredom that have a positive effect
on individuals. According to one
study, “indifferent boredom” is
one such type that leaves someone
in a calm state with generally
positive feelings. We must put
ourselves in these situations.
When boredom is positive,
research shows more creativity
is expressed afterward. In a
study at the University of Central
Lancashire, participants involved
in a boring activity were able
to report a higher number of
solutions to a creative problem
afterward than those who did
not complete the boring activity.
Therefore, when we give in to
our urges to turn to our phone
when we are not being stimulated
by something else, we are not
allowing our later selves to
generate positive creativity that is
crucial to success.
There have been many times
throughout the last few years in
which adults who are a generation
or two older have asked me if
I could ever live without my
phone. Mostly it has been in a
joking manner, but I am realizing
that for many people my age, the
answer is a terrifying no. I do not
believe this is solely because we
are unable to socialize face to face,
but research shows that social
gratification can entice a higher
rate of phone usage.
Many millennials will argue
filling their bored moments with
social media and screen time is not
a waste of time, that they are using
their resources to scan through
breaking
news
or
building
friendships virtually. This may be
true at times, but often those short
news clips turn into viral videos
starring cats and people making
fools of themselves. This is clearly
not the best society has to offer.
Knowing this, I propose we
all have something better to do
with our boredom. While there
is no magical activity that will
inspire greatness in everyone,
everyone does have something
else they could be engaged in
that has higher benefits than
social media.
I am not suggesting we all
stop using our social media
accounts right now and never
turn back. I am suggesting we
begin to accept our feelings of
boredom and turn them toward
an
activity
that
promotes
creativity within ourselves. It
could be reading a book that
has been on your list for years,
completing a project you started
a while ago or even taking a nap.
Whatever it is, channel all your
social media urges into this new
task. A piece of advice: It helps
if you leave your phone behind
when you go engage in this
activity. Trust me, Twitter will
still be there when you finish.
Opinion
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
4A — Wednesday, January 25, 2017
REBECCA LERNER
Managing Editor
420 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
tothedaily@michigandaily.com
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890.
EMMA KINERY
Editor in Chief
ANNA POLUMBO-LEVY
and REBECCA TARNOPOL
Editorial Page Editors
Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of the Daily’s Editorial Board.
All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors.
Carolyn Ayaub
Megan Burns
Samantha Goldstein
Caitlin Heenan
Jeremy Kaplan
Anna Polumbo-Levy
Max Lubell
Alexis Megdanoff
Madeline Nowicki
Jason Rowland
Ali Safawi
Kevin Sweitzer
Rebecca Tarnopol
Ashley Tjhung
Stephanie Trierweiler
EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS
It’s OK to be bored
ALEXIS
MEGDANOFF
ALEXIS MEGDANOFF | COLUMN
EMILY WOLFE | CONTACT EMILY AT ELWOLFE@UMICH.EDU
W
e all know a friend
or two who grew
up Catholic but no
longer associates themselves with
religion. “What a shame,” an older
devout Catholic might think, “that
young people just don’t
understand life.” What
we may not realize,
though, is that this
generational gap is an
opportunity for us to
become good debaters.
Millennials
have
been
labeled
as
“the least religious
generation”
in
history. It’s true —
young
people
are
leaving the church. In fact,
according
to
a
longitudinal
research study conducted by
Jean
Twenge,
a
psychology
professor at San Diego State
University, church attendance of
high-school seniors decreased by
half from 2000 to 2013, and three
times as many college students
don’t
affiliate
themselves
with religion compared to the
previous generation. What does
that mean for us?
This brings me back to a
conversation from last summer I
had with my uncle, who is a priest.
“I hope you find meaning in little
things in life through connection
with God,” he said in reference
to a tree. “You’ll find ways to
do that as you grow older.” The
trouble with this line of thought
is that people tend to assume that
millennials lack empathy and fail
to seek meaning in life — if I don’t
pray before dinner, do I fail to
express gratitude?
Twenge finds that millennials’
decline in religious involvement
is not age-dependent. Instead,
she suggests that it may be due
to a cultural rise of individualism
of our modern generation. In
an individualistic society, there
is less desire to conform and a
greater attempt to maintain sense
of self. But we fail to recognize
this fact in practice.
From
conversations
with
friends, I find that many students
avoid talking about their non-
religiousness in their Catholic
homes.
Maybe
their
devout
Catholic grandparents wouldn’t
understand; they don’t know
how to bring it up or they just
don’t care. But the main reason
appears
to
reside
in our tendency to
circumvent conflict. A
friend once remarked,
“My dad told me that
two things I should
avoid talking about
with
people
are
politics and religion.”
I personally have
experienced
this
ambivalence myself. I
grew up in a Catholic
household, but my relationship
with Catholicism grew tenuous
over the years, especially when I
first took biology in college. The
very first day, as the professor
explained the fundamentals of
evolution, he stated, “There is no
such thing as God.”
The
students’
reactions
were divided. Some people
reacted adversely, while some
others, like me, were intrigued
by his bluntness.
Throughout
the
course,
I
became engrossed in biology and
understanding the universe as a
scientist, a passion that may be
looked down upon by some devout
Catholics. As Dr. Kalanithi writes,
“I, like most scientific types, came
to believe in the possibility of a
material conception of reality.”
However, by viewing life in the
Darwinian sense that life has no
higher purpose, I grew up torn
between the scientific mind and
desire to foster love; between
respect for my family’s beliefs and
having my own voice.
As I lived my conflict, I
began to initiate conversations
with my own family. I told my
parents the things I learned
about evolution, while they
reminded
me
about
the
importance
of
fundamental
human
experiences
such
as hope, love, suffering and
striving. By doing so, I realized
that my preference to leave
my church was not due to lack
of purpose and meaning, but
rather quite the opposite.
It was in these discussions
with my parents that I began to
recognize
the
complementary
aspects of science and religion.
I have come to realize that we
need an anti-Darwinian society,
as Richard Dawkins suggests.
We need to learn evolution
to understand why we exist,
but we should not live by it.
Understanding evolution can help
us learn what to avoid in human
life — how to uplift those who need
it most and not cast them aside.
But, are religion and science
even in conflict? According to Pew
Research, the famous religion
versus science debate may still be
relevant. Six out of 10 adults express
the view that scientific knowledge
and religion are at odds with each
other, especially on the topic of the
creation of the universe.
Michael Evans, a research
associate
at
Dartmouth
College, provides an interesting
perspective:
“Public
conflict
involving religion and science
reflects a fundamental conflict
over good debate.” In making
this comment, Evans urges us to
talk to one another to not only
advance our own positions, but
more importantly, to listen to
one another.
To
better
engage
older
generations
and
millennials,
I find it that we need to begin
these conversations at dinner,
which is the place people avoid
talking about religion the most.
To remind us the importance of
argument, Megyn Kelly writes
in her book “Settle for More,” “I
believe in the right to offend. To
insult. Even to horrify. It’s not
that we’re supposed to enjoy it,
it’s that we’re supposed to allow
it and then respond in a more
persuasive voice.”
Avoiding
conflict
is
counterproductive
to
our
education.
Let’s
become
better debaters, starting at the
dinner table.
GINA CHOE | COLUMN
Resolving science and religion
GINA CHOE
Tribute to Granny: An American Muslim
MICHIGAN IN COLOR
W
e sat in her hospital
room, just my granny
and me, as she told
me about her solar technology
patent. The topic transported
her mind from her blue gown
lit by fluorescent lighting to her
classroom at Virginia Tech. A
well-prepared lecture evolved
out of her weak speech as my
visitor’s chair turned into a desk.
Like a song from her childhood,
she rhythmically told me about
sputtering techniques and thin
film solar converters. Upon
forgetting just one colleague’s
name, she looked at me and
laughed at her “old mind.” On
Jan. 8, 2017, my brilliant granny
passed away after a lifetime of
teaching. Her greatest lesson
to me will be how to be an
outstanding
citizen
and
an
amazing Muslim.
Lubna Razia Ijaz was born
in 1936 in Lahore, Pakistan. By
the time she began studying
at
Government
College
in
Lahore, she had already skipped
multiple grades. I remember
her telling me stories of being
one of the few girls in her class.
Once, a male classmate asked
her why she didn’t wear the
Islamic headscarf, to which she
responded, “Are you a girl? Why
do you care?” That classmate
would go on to marry my granny
and become my grandfather.
The two lovebirds moved to
Florida in 1960 to pursue higher
education. I cannot begin to
imagine the possible instances
of prejudice they must have
faced coming into America’s
civil rights era as people of color.
Perhaps this is because she never
told her grandchildren stories
of prejudice. She only depicted
the America that welcomed
her with grace and respect.
Her hallmark story from the
Florida days is how she and my
grandfather presented a Quran
to the president of Florida State
University, Gordon Blackwell.
In 1965 the two moved to
Virginia. But it wasn’t just
Virginia — it was Blacksburg,
Virginia, a town neighbored
by
Christiansburg
and
Lynchburg. Take a second to
imagine the mindsets of my
grandparents’
townspeople.
Their
presence
was
so
revolutionary
that
a
local
newspaper photographed my
grandparents with the title,
“These are Moslems.”
However, rather than being
discouraged by the apparent
obstacles to inclusion, they
were excited to be involved in
the community and the culture.
Coming from the villages of the
Punjab, my grandparents had a
deep love of the land, which was
a central part of the Virginian
lifestyle. As a result, every visit
to Virginia is filled with fingers
pointing from the car windows
at the acres and acres of land my
grandparents developed.
While she was cultivating
both her family and the Virginian
landscape, my granny pursued
her Ph.D. in solar physics and
education from Virginia Tech. It
makes me so optimistic to know
that she earned her doctoral
degree at a time when less than
5 percent of all Ph.D.s in physics
were awarded to women. She
fervently believed in the Islamic
principles
of
education
for
everyone, not just males, and
led by example in the American
education scene.
Her
dedication
to
her
faith was evident when she
took office as president of
the women’s auxiliary of the
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
USA from 1969 to 1971. The
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
is
America’s
oldest
Muslim
community, established in 1920.
Three of the first 313 adherents
to the Ahmadiyyat were my
granny’s
father,
grandfather
and
great-grandfather.
They
were some of the first members
of
a
revolutionary
social
movement, founded by Mirza
Ghulam
Ahmad
of
Qadian,
India,
championing
“Love
for all, hatred for none.” It’s
inspiring that she took her
deeply rooted spirituality and
put it to practical use in order
to help empower women in the
early ’70s.
In addition to her work
with the women’s auxiliary,
she was constantly looking for
opportunities to develop the
American Muslim community.
In
1983,
my
grandparents
sought to build a mosque for
Muslims in the surrounding
states. An newspaper titled
“Islam in Virginia” says the
mosque was being established
in “the heart of the ‘Bible
belt,’
”
underscoring
the
adversity of its construction.
Due to financial issues the
mosque project was never fully
completed, but her disregard
for possible cultural roadblocks
inspires me to this day.
Practicing Islam was never
an inhibitor to her acceptance
into society. In today’s political
rhetoric, Muslims are often
made out to seem incompatible
to the American way of life.
During the second presidential
debate
in
October
2016,
President Trump called for an
extreme vetting of Muslims.
The goal of this kind of rhetoric
is to say Muslims and Americans
don’t, can’t and won’t mix. But
my granny is clear evidence
that the only thing “extreme”
is the extreme lack of conflict
between being Muslim and
being American.
For example, I would often
imagine what it was like being in
my granny’s classroom. What was
it like learning from her with her
South Asian accent and Pakistani
saris? Apparently, it was great!
In 1976, Lubna Ijaz was awarded
a Woman of the Year award
in education by Montgomery
County, Va. Her breakthrough
teaching
styles
emphasized
the
practical
applications
of
physics and reduced the stress
on examinations for students.
My uncle often tells me that she
would pass out physics exams
with the answers attached, tell
her students her assessment was
of concepts, not equations. In
1996 she established a Virginia
Tech scholarship in her name to
annually award a student who
“has shown great commitment
to the science of physics.”
It
was
no
surprise
that
students loved socializing with
my granny. One photograph
shows
my
granny,
wearing
traditional
shalwar
kameez,
standing in the family apple
orchard surrounded by her
students, all adorned in high-
waisted bell-bottoms.
I love that photograph. It
shows me that cultures and
religions are not obstacles to
unity. Cultural differences and
religious diversity are necessary
for a society to progress and
prosper. That single photograph
shows me that being an American
Muslim is not an oxymoron,
but a beautiful indicator of
society moving towards a bright
future. More than anything, that
photograph shows me that my
granny was an American Muslim
woman, unafraid of any obstacles
to unity, ready to break glass
ceilings and win over the hearts
of her fellow Virginians.
IBRAHIM IJAZ
CONTRIBUTE TO THE CONVERSATION
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Gina Choe can be reached at
ginachoe@umich.edu.
Ibrahim Ijaz can be reached at
iijaz@umich.edu
Alexis Megdanoff can be reached at
amegdano@umich.edu.