Technology is making us vain and lose touch with the present. Last week, I was sitting at
the beach and watched a couple stroll by. As soon as the girl passed me, she
handed her boyfriend her phone and I watched her pose for no less than ten
photos-- each shot was followed by her snatching the phone back from him, some intense
scrutinizing, then head
shaking, and then her handing him the phone back to take another, with a slightly different pose, snatch, scrutinize, repeat. Her demeanor was one that I would
expect from Kim Kardashian, not a random couple on vacation walking down the beach. But
alas, even halfway across the world, technology is making us vain.
Oxford
dictionary re-emphasized this with their 2013 word of the year, “selfie”. Really OXFORD? (I guess I should be happy it wasn’t “twerking” but still.)
Their choice exemplifies my point. Quoting their blog, the word of the year must, “demonstrate some kind of prominence over the preceding year”. They go on to defend their selection by stating, “It seems like everyone
who is anyone has posted a selfie somewhere on the Internet. If it is good enough for the Obamas or The Pope, then it is good enough for Word of the Year.” (http://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2013/11/word-of-the-year-2013-winner/). (It seems that selfies may only be good enough for one of the Obamas...)
Fig.1 President Obama taking a selfie
(I think Michelle is on my side.) Just because
the camera on my phone is better than my actual camera does not mean that every
single "special" moment should be recorded because the phone is handy. It’s kind of sad that most
people don’t take pictures anymore to share with their mom or their spouse, but
instead are compelled to immediately share on a social media channel. I even caught myself having to say, “no let’s keep this
picture for us, not them" (them being my 500 friends on Facebook).
Not only is technology making us vain but it hinders enjoyment of the moment. Being present is a slowly fading art. Think about the last time you went to a concert and the band played everyone's favorite song. How many people around you scrambled to find their phone and then stood there with their phone above their head, as still as they could be, recording the song? How many people were dancing? Regardless of the numbers, you tell me, who was having more fun?
While awesome in so many aspects, technology is,
unfortunately, sucking the consciousness out of our lives and making us more self absorbed. Instead of savoring
moments, we're recording them, so that our brains don't have to remember what we did last night. Social media capital is king. Will we eventually evolve to no longer needing our short-term or long-term brain functions because so much of our lives have been captured by a smartphone? I certainly hope not. At least for now, before you dig into your purse or pocket to find your phone, consider just enjoying the moment. Like boxes full of photographs, how
many times are you really going to go back and look at your "perfect" pose on the beach or watch the ten videos you took at the concert last night?
