It’s a quiet Tuesday afternoon and I sit at my computer thinking of the cell phone that I have purposely left in the kitchen and my internal dialogue goes something like this: “Was it a good idea to leave it on the table? Maybe I should go get it, what if I need to look up something?” Never mind that I’m sitting at a computer where the world practically lives at my fingertips anyway…no, somehow the phone seems important, necessary even. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say I was having a slight case of separation anxiety.
The situation sounds absurd, but it is actually not far removed from the reality that millions of folks currently experience; an unnatural connection to their smart phones, those wily, ubiquitous devices that have succeeded in winning us over one text at a time. You may laugh, but it’s true. One has only to look around to notice the aforesaid glued in our hands while our heads bend down to take in byte after byte of entertainment or distraction, such as the case may be.
Take the gym for example. I remember when people went to work out unhampered by the technology that now eats up all our attention. They were there, well, to work out. Nowadays when I scan the horizon, as far as my eye can see, I notice smart phones populating book holders on treadmills, stationary bikes and the like, while their respective owners exercise glued to the screens, taking in content with rapt attention and appearing more interested in virtual reality than in breaking a sweat. It’s sad to see people pause their routines just to take in something on their phones. I want to shake them and shout, “You’re here to work out, so work out!”
Or how about Bart (the Bay Area rapid transit system for those of you unfamiliar), that grand repository of the human soup? Nowhere else can one gauge so accurately the trends and zeitgeist currently inhabiting society than in those telling cars. In riding, I’ve witnessed the disturbing sight of practically every person poring over their phones in one way or another. Passengers stand up in the thick of commute time with practically no room to breath looking like so many penitent churchgoers...eerily silent and disturbingly still, their bent heads blankly take in the device in their hands. In all fairness, tuning out is allowed after a long day at work or life, but we've gotten way too comfortable at downright ignoring the action and potential danger around us in order to check a Facebook status, or scroll through our pictures.
Our phones have become extensions of our identity. They have transformed our way of thinking and relating to each other and to the world. Unfortunately, I don't see this as a trend that's going to reverse anytime soon, like melting icecaps, unless we, as individuals, question our habits and lifestyles more than we have. I can't see the future, God's in charge of that, but I do surmise we need a drastic shift in our rudders, otherwise we're headed for the iceberg, folks, we're headed for the iceberg, and who wants that?
Our phones have become extensions of our identity. They have transformed our way of thinking and relating to each other and to the world. Unfortunately, I don't see this as a trend that's going to reverse anytime soon, like melting icecaps, unless we, as individuals, question our habits and lifestyles more than we have. I can't see the future, God's in charge of that, but I do surmise we need a drastic shift in our rudders, otherwise we're headed for the iceberg, folks, we're headed for the iceberg, and who wants that?
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