Analogue System in a Digital World
- SC
- Aug 10, 2019
- 1 min read
I really feel like I need to get off social media. I don't even want to check it and yet I find myself doing so compulsively. My hand, seemingly of its own volition, against the will of my brain, indulging in mindless "apps"turbation. Yet I periodically delete these apps from my phone only to find a permeating sense of "missing out" and disconnection. I feel disconnected either way: plug in = numb and disconnected; plug out = excluded and disconnected.
Reasons social media is bad:
Mindless procrastination
Externalisation of self-validation
Unrealistic expectations and unhealthy comparisons of self-image
Getting into arguments with keyboard warriors
Reinforces feelings of inadequacy
Shortened attention spans
Erosion of the ability to delay gratification
Reasons social media is good:
We are ultimately biological creatures – the evolutionary collision of our ancient brains with new and modern technology has created a tension. We sit within this tension, drowning in a dysphoria that is making us wired, nervous, and anxious. We plug in and sync our devices only to find ourselves detached at the core.
Man has become slave to his creation; he did not understand that the tool he made would tap into an ancient part of his brain, the one that governed the primordial instincts, and become its master. Now this thing watches us, every microsecond of the day. It tells us what we should like, what music we should listen to, how we should behave; it knows us better than we know ourselves.
Where is this relationship headed? This relationship between Man and Machine? But more importantly – the relationship between Man and himself?
