Media Detox: experience life as it’s supposed to be.
Not using any kind of media for a day? It seems like a simple thing, but it isn’t. Nowadays almost every single form of communication relies on media. Internet became an essential part of life and it’s astonishing how (almost) everything has connection with digital media. But what kind of future awaits if we continue walking in this direction? That’s what I thought about while doing the experiment.
Our phones and computers have everything we “need”: make calls and send text messages through a certain service (something that nobody uses anymore thanks to social media). Apps that give us all the information we want and an alternative form of communication: immediate feedback / response. This creates an easy lifestyle, because everything fits in our pockets or backpacks in small devices. But is it useful? No.
Try the experiment and you’ll understand. This “easiness” is a mistaken thought. Our minds are automatic now, because the first thing we think about is using our devices. I find this disturbing. These tools have surpassed their main purpose and transformed into something we need, thus dehumanizing our lifestyle.
Think about this: if we want to talk to somebody, we rather use our apps or websites. If we want to buy groceries or any other kind of item, we do it through the internet. Have you realized how little is our human contact right now? We prefer to stay indoors and continue with our endeavours with this social illusion that media has created for us.
This illusion is what makes us feel comfortable using media all the time: we believe that everything we do is social, so we consume more and more content every day. But the downside of this is that media is taking almost every hour of our life, and keeps growing as our major source of entertainment and communications. That’s why we now struggle without internet.
Media Detox serves as a meditation process where we can be productive once again. Returning to “old” ways of living: Spending some time with other people, walking. Doing some workout, studying by analysis and not by remembering or repeating. The experiment was a success for me, because it reminded me how different life was before all this media hype. The key word for this experiment is experience.
As we are used to do everything with our devices, we are starting to forget how incredible life is as the ultimate experience. And not just talking about human contact, but the happiness of everything we can do without sharing it anywhere, enjoying it and later feeling satisfaction. That’s what life is about! Not worrying about how many reactions our content can achieve.
Media is not transforming us into “dumb” individuals, but is taking our attention towards mundane and common things. What we have to do is remember how productive and joyful our activities can be without worrying about using our devices or creating content, but focusing on experiences and memories to share later with other humans in the traditional ways: talking face to face.
Sources
CARR, N., 2010. How the Internet is making us stupid. The Telegraph [online]. Available from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/internet/7967894/How-the-Internet-is-making-us-stupid.html [Accessed 16 May 2017].
CARR, N., 2014. Automation Makes Us Dumb. The Wall Street Journal [online]. Available from: https://www.wsj.com/articles/automation-makes-us-dumb-1416589342 [Accessed 16 May 2017].
CARR, N., 2015. How Social Media is Ruining Politics. Politico.com [online]. Available from: http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/09/2016-election-social-media-ruining-politics-213104?paginate=false [Accessed 16 May 2017].
CARR, N., 2016. When our culture’s past is lost in the cloud.
The Washington Post
[online]. Available from: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/when-our-digital-memory-is-lost-in-the-cloud-what-becomes-of-our-human-history/2016/03/24/11ed1482-ba46-11e5-99f3-184bc379b12d_story.html?utm_term=.826a7717c3aa [Accessed 16 May 2017].
