What If
In this contemporary world of being busy, so very busy, just so busy, have we lost something precious?
Have we gained such advancements in technology, weaponry, knowledge, efficiency? It seems, much of the world has.
It's as if much of the world is getting so advanced, or at least feeling as if. Possibly, being so far ahead that the reality is that the dearest parts are being forgotten. This calls to mind the phrase which I have seen ~
In the past, people used things & loved other people. In today's world, too often, people use other people while loving things, instead.
Technology is awesome-sauce to me. It's enjoyable, yet, it supercedes too much. Many people have their phone on them & often in their hand on ski slopes, running trails, even while having meals with family or friends. Instead of interacting with the one who was right there, with them, they won't leave their device alone. Sometimes I have caught myself giving in to that.
It's hard to sit with one person or a group of people, being ignored, left out of the loop. As they interact with whomever or whatever they find to be more interesting than the real, flesh & blood sitting right there with them.
Everyone is missing out.
There are many aspects to this.
Another aspect is the training of children starting them as early as 18 months, being kept busy by movies, video games, hand held electronics. It may keep them occupied, yet, at the price of learning gsocial skills, making beautiful memories with families & friends. Brain development has been shown to be slowed, also delayed from over stimulation from artificial over stimulation.
Most people know this, even as they hand their toddler their phone to watch a video in lieu of a box of crayons & paper or even *gasp* an etch-a-sketch! Huh? WTH is that? Google it! Ha ha!
Yes, I own a smart TV, an. iPad, a laptop. However, it's a very fluid pleasure, for this girl, to put any one of them aside for the pleasure of the company of another person.
Pleasure is also derived by MOI from a simple, non computerized sewing machine, hand embroidering, playing fetch with the dogs of other people's. Even petting their cats!
Since I don't have pets of my own unless plants count, time spent with other people's pets is a treat!
What if, just for a time period of your choosing to exceed 1 day, you unplugged from technology in favor of really fostering relating to those people around you. Smile more, open more doors for people you don't know. Write actual pen & paper letters to those you know then, send it via pony express! lol
Just sayin.
See the difference it makes in you, in your world as well as others. It can have a ripple effect. It can possibly cause a few people to love other people while using things even if only briefly.
What if......
I've been fighting this fight and trumpeting this very message to anyone who will listen for years now. I once went out to eat and there were two couples at a table and all four of them were looking down at their phones and not interacting at all!It has negatively impacted my own life. I think its sad that we have lost something in personal relationships...but Steve Jobs did what he wanted to do...he got rich and he said he envisioned the smart phone being "an extension" of each person...thats why the screen was black...to reflect the user in the screen. People now need them to feel "connected" and I see how that can be true for many....life can be lonely. But quality of life is so much better when people really talk...really look at each other...really interact!
ReplyDeleteWe're on the same page! I know too much about the negatory of "smart phones" so, though I know how to use & can afford the iPhone 5, 6, 7 ...whatever number they are on, I prefer what's referred to as a poc phone. When people won't stay off their dam devices, I sometimes just stand up & leave. it takes them a couple minutes to notice that I've left. Stay in the fight with me!
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