Strange Brew: Smartphones are Shaping Our Lives

Are you living outside your screen?

Hannah Arendt warned us that technology can cut both ways — open new doors while narrowing important ones.

A walk through Chelsea a few years ago made me see her point.

While on my way to watch legendary bassist Melvin Gibbs give a free performance at an art gallery, I noticed two people a half-block ahead of me stop in front of the gallery’s plate glass window for a few seconds to watch Gibbs and the band set up. As if on-cue, they pulled out their smartphones to take photos for a few seconds more, and then kept walking.

I giggled. “Their loss” was my takeaway.

But this experience — at this point, I should call it ritual — lives years later and beyond the gallery.

For instance, I was recently in a lounge — known around the world for their craft cocktails — when I saw a couple walk in, order a round of shots, take selfies, and then leave. Their experience lasted no more than five minutes, including the time it took for the bartender to pour the liquor.

I would generally ask these selfie people questions about their experiences or choices of the moment and their answers are unsurprisingly shallow.

I asked myself, “How can we have unprecedented access to technology that makes knowledge more accessible and the world much smaller — but we remain so distracted and disconnected from reality”?

But I’m beginning to understand that the question is more like “Why do we have unprecedented access … ”?

Research tells us that the mix of FOMO and social media can instigate depressive symptoms by driving an endless need for social acceptance, but more needs to be said about how people are so consumed with taking photos — as if they’re in a pointless arms race to collect experiences, treating them as weapons of mass enlightenment — but are spending even less time to absorb and enjoy their moments.

I don’t see a social victory here. And this race is positioned to become worse …

Ask yourself this question while you’re chasing the next photo: would that moment be worth more if you actually lived it?

song currently stuck in my head: “all systems down” – opolopo feat. amalia