SCREENED
We're a society divided, not a nation united.
We sit in front of our computer screens, our tablet screens, our smart phone screens, our TV screens - literally living our lives through a screen.
We see the number of friends on our social media, the number of followers or the number of likes & believe that somehow, this makes us worth something.
But how many of these people do we physically interact with?
How many do we actually know?
If you fell on hard times, how many of those people would step up & support you, be there for you as a friend would do?
Be honest now.
Think long & hard.
I'm sure you can count them on one hand, or maybe you realise you can't count any at all.
People have become a commodity.
Friendship is nothing but a competition, a game, something taken for granted, a novelty we think no longer requires effort.
We have all these ways to communicate yet we never truely converse.
We think that we can just message anyone at any time we want & sure, we can.
But we don't.
Soon will come the day when you can't, when a certain someone who meant so much isn't there anymore.
& you will see it on a Facebook post; a sad and solemn announcement.
Just like that, a person's life is reduced to a status.
How much regret will you carry then?
How much guilt?
& before you know it, it will be your turn.
How will you be remembered?
As nothing more than a series of tweets or posts?
Nothing more than lifeless letters on a lifeless, lonely screen?
How many precious moments have you missed because your eyes were glued to that screen?
How many moments have you actually seen with your own eyes instead of through the eyes of a screen?
How much time have you wasted?
How many times have you wondered how someone was & checked their profile to find out instead of calling them or paying a visit?
Sometimes i wonder, are these sites that claim to unite us actually meant to divide us, separate us, segregate us, categorise us, isolate us & weaken us?
Ask yourself, do you still feel lonely despite your 500 Facebook friends, your 20,000 Instagram or Twitter followers?
Does anyone even know you anymore?
Does anyone know the authentic version of you, or do they only see the image you portray, the image you want them to see; the image you hide behind - like you hide behind your screen.
A screen where we can watch the news flash by & trick ourselves into thinking we're well informed.
But are we really?
The media shows us what we want to see.
You can't control people with the truth & heaven forbid they're allowed to think!
Real facts are boring after all & boring doesn't get the ratings.
& we believe all we hear because, its easier to believe what we're told rather than do our own research or seek out the truth.
Even though we have the resources to do this very thing.
But we're lazy.
Media.
Another way to divide us, separate us, segregate us, categorise us, isolate us & weaken us.
The weaker we are, the more susceptible we become.
The more susceptible we are, the easier it is to hypnotise us, fill us with fear to the point where we are suspicious of everyone & accepting of no one.
If we are separated, how can we fight?
How can we stand up for ourselves?
How can we possibly win?
We live in a delusion of freedom yet still we cannot see it.
Still we fall for the same old lies & the same old tricks.
Technology.
The whole world in our hands at just one click & what have we become?
Slaves.
Screened.
Mindless shells.
A society divided, not a nation united.
So turn off your device.
Shut it down & unplug.
It's when the screen goes dark that you will finally see the light.
COPYRIGHT: CJ
Resistance is Futile
I am Borg, though I am not part of the Collective. It happened six years ago, when I had an electronic implant placed in my back. I rarely think about it, except if I happen to touch it or if I lean back the wrong way. It functions on its own with only minor adjustments from me from time to time. I am now the product of technology, and because I am here and healthy and can tell this tale, I'm fine with that.
In fact, though, we are all the products of technology in one manner or another. The very fact that I can write this and you can read it on this platform means that you, too, are technological. Maybe you don't have the latest and the greatest, maybe you don't have an implant like I do, but you do have, and you do use, technology. Your car's (or the bus') engine is regulated by a computer chip. You scan your groceries at the store. You talk on a digitally connected telephone, or perhaps on Skype. You send messages around the globe in minutes and think nothing of how amazing that capability really is. You do research for your next book in the vast electronic network that's called the internet. You take medicines and vaccines engineered with the latest scientific innovations. You can't help but be a part of the technological revolution, whether you want to be or not.
But that's not really the question, is it? The question many people want answered is if having and using this technology is a good thing. Look at nuclear warheads. Look at drone warfare. Look at hacking and cyberbullying. None of these would be possible if we hadn't developed the technologies to make them possible. With each new invention, each new advance, comes both the good and the bad. Whether we head into the darkness or the light is not a technological decision, but one of human nature. We are capable of both glorious and horrific things. We can take the technology and soar into the future of a better environment, better health, travel to and colonization of new worlds, or we can use it to destroy our planet and ourselves. The problem is not one of technology but one of humanity. The technology will come, whether we want it to or not - we are also explorers at heart, so it is pretty much inevitable. We have to make sure, though, that our learning curve and our ethics keep pace with our technology. If we can do that, we will have a good shot at survival. If we can't, there won't be anyone left to read this when we're through. It is up to each of us to ensure we are on a path to the best possible outcome.
Balance
Technology has saved many, many lives in the medical realm. Ultrasounds, X-rays, vaccinations...
Technology has improved traveling. Unlike the pioneers, we don't have to travel for months to get from one side of the US to the other, and half of us don't die on the way, either... :)
We don't have to wait for months, or even years to hear our loved ones' voices or to send them a letter because technology has made phones, Skype, chats, and a reliable mail system possible.
But now, we rate people by their Facebook following, or how we looked by what we see on Pinterest or Instagram.
We don't go outside and talk face to face anymore, and our only friends are laptop screens and phones.
There's got to be a balance to technology; technology is not bad by any stretch of the imagination. But how we use technology can be harmful to us, and others as well.