It's been happening for a few years in my life; I wake up and go through my routine- I work, eat, exercise, and as the night approaches, I find myself not remembering what happened in the day. Sometimes entire weeks and months pass by and I have nothing but vague recollections of what actually happened: usually these are brief snippets of genuine human interaction- a smile from passerby, bargaining with a stranger, a driver possessed with road rage. But reflecting on my life rarely returns anything of substance to me, and I wanted to explore what the hell was going on.
Being born in the United States in 2002, my life can broadly be split into two chapters (as of 2023, the year in which I am writing this article)- 1. pre-2012, and 2. post-2012. Why the year 2012? This was the year social media really took off, and mobile device usage, which once was largely a product for adults, became widely pervasive in youth culture. Middle schools and high schools transformed, seemingly overnight, with mobile phones in the hands of practically every student. This year also coincided with my first year of puberty, and these two monumental events in my life couldn't be further at odds with each other.
These days most youth culture is virtual. Check out this graph that shows how couples have met over time.
One of the most rewarding activities that belonged to young men was the pursuit of women. An experience that once required you to be fully immersed and invested in an individual- their smell, their voice, their touch, their conversational skills- has now been reduced to a series of metrics, numbers and text on a screen, a lackluster attempt at replicating what is, for many, a coming-of-age experience.
The pursuit of excellence is one of the main purposes of human life. Technology has taken over that in many ways. Video games give young men a false sense of achievement and progress, creating virtual worlds that spike the neural pathways in our brain that are actually associated with real life adventure and achievement. Social media personalities that get the most likes feel validated, when there is nothing to show for any 'accomplishment' on these apps. Travel and tourism have become goals and items to check off on a checklist, rather than actually being adventures or organic experiences. Every single popular destination has turned into a tourist trap, and why not, when there's money to be made off of it? That word 'organic' is so important and something I want to talk about.
The best moments in life are never things you can plan, but they happen organically. Think about it. Try to replicate a happy moment in your life and it turns out disastrously. This is where capitalism fails. No business can create a product or sell you a service that can make you truly happy or fulfilled- that is something that happens when you are unassuming and carefree. When money is involved, it spoils it all.
People have become more interested in curating the online profiles of themselves rather than actually investing any of their time in meaningful activities in the real world. A lot of people only do activities if they get a picture/video to share of it in the end- any event that doesn't reward you with something Instagrammable is not worth doing. Face to face interactions are too risky- people are too fragile to deal with the initial awkwardness, the stumbling words, the grimaces, and the comfort of being able to end a conversation and block someone off without the need for niceties is just too much. Why risk losing so much face when you can converse in a way that gives you complete control? With a device everyone becomes the king of their own universe, and the bitter, complex realities of social dynamics don't need to be dealt with.
There are plenty of other aspects of human life that are commodified, and plenty more will be in the coming years undoubtedly. To resist it, it's important to find like-minded people, preferably from your hobbies or school/work. Having people with shared interests is a great counteracting force against the relentless march of technology. Religion is wonderful. Put your ego aside and start searching.
I appreciate your words on organicity. Technology has warped and modified organic human experiences to the point that it has implemented itself as a permanent part of our culture. People often think of hostile technology in terms of cybernetic augmentations, metal replacing biological meat and bone or an omnipresent artificial intelligence causing worldwide societal manipulation. The scary fact is that this is a completely plausible future for humanity. I feel like what people don't realise is the subliminal tweaking of the human spirit that social media has caused. I look forward to more of your blogs :)
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