Monday, May 5, 2014

Empty Lives of Distraction

I've just watched a Youtube video which has made me really think about what kind of world we've created for ourselves.  

It's a world of distraction where we're always looking down, always looking at our devices, always sharing so many things - and yet we're alone.  We're never with our friends and yet we are, and nobody's with us, but somebody is always yapping in our ear.  We have so many hundreds of friends and yet we claim to be lonely all the time and nobody truly cares about anyone - no... not really.

This YouTube presentation is narrated by a man in the UK who has written a ballad about how much technology has changed us, how it's changed how we treated people around us, how we bring up our children and grandchildren.  
He's noticed how we sit on trains and buses looking at our devices instead of striking up conversations with people; terrified that we might actually connect with another human being - for real! - and have a real, human to human connection.  This might be too much for us to deal with.
He pointed out that our parks are empty and so are our backyards, that our children are born into a world where they see their parents connected to a computer screen and simply accept it as a normal thing.  They don't learn that talking to each other from across the living room or dining room table was once a normal thing to do.  Nor do they learn that playing outside on swing sets or in the back yard until sunset was once a normal thing to do once as well.  

This video made me sad.  It caused me to cry because I realised I'm also caught up in the computer age - the very same one I vowed to never ever get to caught up in.  Yes, I'm an addict to the machine of the Internet and the computer.  However, I do get outside and do the things away from computers, away from technology.  I have a technology-free day or two a week; just to reconnect with the world we are so quicky losing touch with.  It's nice to just jump in the car and drive to a park, a lookout or into the mountains and take in the fresh air and know it's all still here, but sadly there's nobody around to enjoy any of it.

So, before we all become too lost in this world of phones, devices, iPads and computers, do watch this 4-minute YouTube video.  About halfway through, I do remember thinking to myself: 'My god, what have we done?' 

Look Up 

Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here.

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