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poliphiloOur use of screens is peculiar.
It's peculiar to our particular level of mental development and our particular level of technology.
And also peculiar in the sense of a bit weird- and I think that's how our descendants will see it.
They may even think of this present period- which began round 1900 with the invention of cinema- as The Age of Screens.
Screens aren't bad in themselves, they inform and entertain and they bring people together, but also they divorce us from the here and now. I think our use of them is excessive.
Can I reduce my use of them?
Well, dammit, of course I can!
It's peculiar to our particular level of mental development and our particular level of technology.
And also peculiar in the sense of a bit weird- and I think that's how our descendants will see it.
They may even think of this present period- which began round 1900 with the invention of cinema- as The Age of Screens.
Screens aren't bad in themselves, they inform and entertain and they bring people together, but also they divorce us from the here and now. I think our use of them is excessive.
Can I reduce my use of them?
Well, dammit, of course I can!
no subject
Date: 2022-02-05 02:38 pm (UTC)I'm also not on any social media besides this journal (and I don't really think journaling like this counts)? Still, having said that, I recently read a book by Jaron Lanier titled: "Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now" and I found it a bit frightening but very illuminating. I had not known the extent to which most social media is designed to draw you in and keep you there. Lanier says that the people who invented services like Facebook (and therefore have key knowledge of their internal workings) are so frightened of them that they will not allow their own children to use them. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaron_Lanier
I don't know if you meant numbing one's mind with meaningless reality TV or all screen usage but after reading that book, I want to close my Google account. That will make my life more difficult, since everything is linked to google, even my phone App Store but it might still be worth it. Lanier does not say that the whole of the internet is bad or that you should give up everything forever. Just that a small break might be what is needed.
Sorry, went on tangent, maybe. But that book made such an impact on me.
no subject
Date: 2022-02-05 03:07 pm (UTC)I have never used FB- or any of the alternatives. I could see from the outset how easy it would be to get hooked- and I only put the TV on to watch things I choose to watch- mainly movies. I love the Internet but try to keep my use of it purposeful (not always succeeding). I subscribe to a number of YouTube channels. If I could see my way to unhitching from Google I would.