We're Losing our Humanity! A young person's perspective on the direction the world is headed
DISCLAIMER: I'm aware that I'm one of the younger users on Steemit. This post addresses an issue I see more with younger people than other generations. I know this is a controversial topic, so if you disagree I'd love to talk about it in the comments!
Picture this.
An American family sits in their living room together on a weekday night. The TV is on, but nobody's watching. Everyone's on their devices cruising the internet ghetto. Every few minutes, someone comes across something funny and everyone looks up from their screens for a few moments to see it. Usually, it's just another political meme with no evidence to back up the stated opinion. This is what an average night looks like at my house, or any of my friend's houses for that matter.
For us, the TV is not interactive enough. We crave the consistent stimulation Facebook gives us from seeing a funny one liner or a relatable meme that agrees with our particular world view. In my view this shortens our attention spans.
How about another example?
I was recently hanging out with a good buddy of mine. He's been dying to show me an episode of one of his favorite shows, so we started watching it. A few minutes into the show I noticed he had been on his phone the whole time.
So I asked him "aren't you going to watch the show?"
"I like to multitask," he told me.
Fair enough. I'm not trying to badmouth my friends and family. They're great people. I know plenty of people who can sit through a 20 minute TV show without doing something else. But I feel like many people I know have fallen into the trap of social media addiction. They are shortening their attention spans without knowing it.
I notice this is happening to me most of all.
Until recently, I was spending a lot of my free time on Facebook. I would mindlessly scroll through a bunch of unoriginal posts.
A few years ago when I joined Facebook, I took a lot more time to read what my friends were sharing. But I think a few years of instant gratification have gotten to me. Now I find myself scrolling past 95% of posts, even if they are posts that would likely appeal to me.
In my opinion, Facebook has done some "rewiring" of my brain to hook me on instant gratification. I never used to be this way. I think this has happened to the majority of us to some extent.
When we crave our smartphones, we tend to neglect our basic human instincts. We all have hobbies that occupy our time outside of social media. What I'm afraid of is the idea that these hobbies could be lost on future generations.
If the technology we have now takes time away from other aspects of our lives, imagine how much more engaging technology could be in 50 years. Skills we once mastered such as drawing, woodworking, and gardening might become less and less popular. Eventually people could even lose interest in them altogether.
For my own good, I'm trying to turn this around. I'm spending more free time here on Steemit, a place where thoughtful posts that take hours to compose are valued. I will try to post once a day.
I am also spending more time outside, away from technology. I believe hiking, camping, fishing, and even simply getting fresh air trigger another kind of reaction in our brains. Those are the kinds of things we were meant to do, and they bring out the best in us.
The takeaway
Just because our civilization has developed to the point where we can choose not to do these things doesn't mean we should never do them again.
Even spending 20 minutes outside each day can improve overall well being dramatically. My Grandpa is in his 80s. He goes for a walk every day and is still in perfect health.
I don't want humans to lose the skills that advanced our civilization in the first place. The most I can do is try to teach my kids all the skills I know and hope they develop a passion for them! Ultimately, it will be up to them to choose how they use their time.
I'm not here to tell you how to live your life, I just want to offer my perspective on where I think things are headed.
Thank you for reading this post, I know it was long!
Here is a link to my previous post.
Louis CK spoke great about this!
That was an awesome clip @rubellitefae!!! That encapsulates so much of what's wrong with people's attitudes about technology and how it's used.
I'm an old fart, and technology is kindof in my blood. I love it, but it is only a tool, which can be used for good or evil, just like a hammer, knife or gun. Thank the stars above for technology like the Internet, that is one of our last and best tools for freedom. WE MUST DO WHATEVER WE CAN TO KEEP THE INTERNET FREE!
I agree that there is an agenda to dumb people down. I just never understood how Twitter could even catch on, why people are drawn to such a crazy limit like messages with only 140 characters. I've never even considered using Twitter it's so contrary to how I communicate. It just goes to show if enough people in high places throw enough money at a project it will often catch on and be accepted by the unthinking masses who have been dumbed down to 3 second attention spans with no thinking (which reminds me, I've heard 2 popular hits on the radio now that include the idea, "I've been thinking too much - help me!") You can't tell me there's no agenda afoot to make thinking evil and feelings superior.
I just hope the seed of freedom is alive and well in the minds of enough men & women to not only stop the tyrants and psychopaths in power, but to go beyond and reverse the trends plaguing the planet, before we truly loose our humanity.
I was talking about SteemIt and Twitter to a friend of mine over lunch today. He's in his 80s. I said, "Twitter is like a bunch of chickens clucking all over the yard. But, SteemIt is the ocean. You never know what might bubble up from the depths." 😆
You are speaking the truth. But I believe that in order for us to be less addicted toi social media, we need a different society. Humans are social creatures, we neeed to spend time together, be creative, dance,sing, talk, and cuddle. The last parrt is important. I really believe strongly that non sexual touch with different people is what most of us need to stay happy, but norms in society prevents this.
And we have a real lack of meeting places that are not commercialised.
And people are too busy working. And the unemployed are poor and stigmatized.
I can testify that when I have been in gatherings where my basic human need for togetherness is satisfied, I can be without the internet for weeks.
Anyway, you are upvoted and followed, I will check out your other posts as well. Your post was resteemed by @rubellitefae and I read your post thinking that it was her post, then I saw your user name, lol.
This post has been linked to from another place on Steem.
Learn more about linkback bot v0.4. Upvote if you want the bot to continue posting linkbacks for your posts. Flag if otherwise.
Built by @ontofractal
great post, thanks for sharing
Awesome post, I am glad to hear you are freeing yourself from technology. It is good to know I'm not the only one who thinks the same way you do. Steem has kinda sucked me back in though XD
The difference with Steemit is that to succeed you have to think about what you're writing. You can't repost someone else's meme and get credit. Creating valuable content is what the platform is built on.
The same goes for curating, I find myself reading entire articles on Steemit instead of reading 2 sentences and upvoting. I can't say the same about Facebook.
So don't feel bad you're spending time here, if you're doing a lot of reading and writing then this is good for you!
Great post, I enjoyed it a lot. I think the problems you describe cross generations. I see it in my crowd too and we are the parents of the people you are speaking about.
You are right, however this platform is an other virtual trap. To find a balance makes sense. Use your hands, pick up a handcraft project...
Great post @wawacoffee, and I couldn't agree more. It is an unfortunate side effect of the always on connection to everything, "Ye Olde Interwebs." I have to martial myself to stay focused and productive when online, for sure.
Screens are kind of brainwashing and can influence the viewers perspective, values and judgements, even if most of it is just pretend.
I've managed to get out and walk most days for some time now and it is flippin' awesome. Cheers!
... welcome to the simulation of the specie-ists ...
CHOOSE YOUR SIM:3456789Humanity may have been lost years ago. Good to see a few looking for it though!