Life in a screen
It doesn’t take a brilliant observer to notice one of the newest trends these days: it’s living life in a screen. The screen I’m talking about is usually a small screen, like the one that appears on an iphone or a blackberry. But it could be any size screen too. A large flat screen, an ipad or computer screen, or some new sized screen we have yet to see.
A recent tv ad for a phone service provider showed it all: mom on the land line with screen, daughter video-phoning, son watching a video on his phone, and dad watching tv on his ipad. As part of the sell-this being tv and all- everyone was smiling and happy in his or her little world. And the images on the screens watched were somehow preferable to other family interactions, including whatever stimuli existed in the immediate surroundings. This is a big change in behavior for many people.
It seems that we have all been seduced by electronic stimulation, and it was a gradual transformation rather than a sudden change. I remember how great it felt when cell phones were first widely used. I loved the feeling of being on my cell phone conducting business while walking on a beautiful beach: nobody knew where I was nor did they know I was in a bathing suit. Wow- I thought- this is real freedom! And although I started to carry my phone with me almost everywhere, I was never one of those people who had to be on my phone all the time, nor did I need to be constantly connected.
With smart phones and ipads, people’s behavior has evolved yet again: walking down the street staring at a screen oblivious to what’s going on around. Besides the increase in tripping, falling and other accidents, and besides the rudeness of this behavior, this also represents real isolation: whatever is happening on that little screen is somehow more important than the actual surrounding of people or things. It is doubtful that this is true. In fact, the feedback and energy you get from being tuned into your environment is critical in so many ways- and if you purposely shut it out you are, in a sense, shutting out life itself.
