Beyond the Surface: Rediscovering Depth in Our Digitally-Distracted World
The Vastness of Human Experience in the Digital Age
Do you ever wonder about the vastness of human perception and experience, all the small and big experiences shaping our framework and thus our realities? Creating a lens through which we try to peek into the fascinating nature of reality and human behavior. With the rise of technology, our experiences have increased manifold. Earlier, only a handful of people had any idea about the rest of the world, but now, with better digital connectivity and cheaper flights, everyone can see and appreciate wonderful things across the globe, be it through blogs, vlogs, or actually traveling there. More and more people are traveling to as many places as possible, a trend that was not prevalent until a few decades ago. Earlier, people usually traveled for work, and the idea of exploring different cities and places is relatively new. From the comfort of our couch, we can experience the beautiful landscapes of Switzerland to the charming streets of Paris, from the bustling life of New York City to the great Amazon Rainforest. You name a place, and I can bet there will be some vlogger who has made a video about that place. The experiences are not just limited to vlogs of different tourist destinations; we can easily find entire communities interested in the same things as us, no matter how uncommon that hobby is. We literally have access to every language and every book ever written. All of this has tremendously enhanced our experiences in ways we can't even fathom.
The Double-Edged Sword of Technology
But let me propose a counter-viewpoint on how we might have actually limited our experience. While it's true that technology has enhanced our experience, a closer look reveals it has had the opposite effect on our experience and perception for a significant part of the population. Don't get me wrong, technology has greatly improved human life, but some aspects of it are designed to control you and limit your experience of the world.
Yes, you guessed it right, I'm talking about social media and most of the entertainment industry. The goal of social media is not to make you feel connected but to control your attention span, and that's how they sell you products and ideologies. This influence is so subtle that it's almost impossible to see. They are not just selling you products; they are selling you a lifestyle, an idea of what it looks like to be happy (not what it feels like to be happy). It is creating more and more echo chambers, making you believe things and giving you completely artificial perceptions. For instance, if you follow some photography pages, they introduce you to the idea that your life can't be happening without visiting these places. Now, this control is so subtle that it makes you believe that you want to see all these places, otherwise your life is incomplete, and then your mind comes up with some lame excuse like, "life is all about exploration."
The only thing left for these big social media companies is to get your attention even in your sleep; except for your sleep, they are controlling every bit of your attention, thoughts, and ideology, true for atleast most youngsters.
Redefining Exploration in the Modern World
Well, if life is about exploration, how many times have you delved into the depths of Quantum physics or the intricacies of history? How often have you found yourself awestruck with art and literature or completely baffled by abstract maths? Exploration can't just be about travel; it needs to encompass all different human experiences, be it science, religion, travel, art, or something else. Now, I might be a bit biased here. Having seen a fair bit of the world myself, I can talk about other types of exploration and have already started giving more weight to the ones happening inside my mind. But trust me, there is no better experience than an intellectual journey. The sooner you start on that, the better it is.
The Impact of Technology on Attention and Perception
So let's delve a layer deeper, and examine why human perception is so profoundly affected by technology, and it has everything to do with attention. The content you consume determines how well you can attend to a particular thing without shifting your mind to something else. The more reels you watch, the shorter your attention span becomes. You start losing the capacity to hold a thought for long. I can bet that most people can't hold a thought or analyze something for two hours. And it's clearly evident in how our command of language has deteriorated. Go and read letters from soldiers of WW2; the language usage is beautiful and shows a far superior command over the language compared to the much more educated counterparts of the present. I recently came across a study that states 1/3rd of university graduate students have no numerical or writing literacy left; they can't write a proper paragraph. Just imagine how bad it has become. You will often find people using filler words such as "like," "umm," "ya," because they can't form long sentences in their heads. Being able to write and think rationally requires the ability to form complex arguments, and that's not possible without a good command of language.
Social Media's Influence on Literacy and Critical Thinking
The more social media you use, the more illiterate and arrogant you become. Consider this: 1/3rd of university graduates lack basic numeric or writing literacy. How easy it is to make them believe in anything, because they can't process rational arguments anymore; all you need is, find an emotional hotspot to control them. Do you really think social media companies are not going to use this fact to sell you products and a lifestyle? It's incredibly easy to control and trigger people unless they are extremely well-read. A vast majority of Gen Z are already living in echo chambers, oblivious to the reality of the real world. And the moment they interact with the real world, they either completely break down or demand unearned things. People who identify themselves with different ideologies and refuse to see other perspectives have already closed off their rational faculties, thus limiting their experiences. The two most common examples of this are people being unable to hear any criticism of the feminist movement (I've seen so many people get triggered over minor disagreements) and criticism of their favorite political leaders (like Trump).
The Irony of Modern Consumerism
This is just the tip of the iceberg. The average Western young woman spends around 500 USD on clothing and accessories every month. Does anyone really need this much clothing? Yet they will talk about climate change. You see this everywhere: Hollywood stars talking about saving the planet despite traveling in private jets and creating far more pollution. All these are signs that people are slaves to certain lifestyles often promoted by social media. They do it not because they have read on these topics, but because they have been emotionally triggered by shorts and videos. It is fashionable to call out the government for disorder despite having massive instability in their own personal lives. A lot of them have been brainwashed to follow the trends in social media. Go and fix your life before you change the world.
The Limitation of Conversations in Today's Society
Go and talk to people; you will realize that they can only talk about events and other people, often gravitating towards romantic relationship talks. If you want to check how expansive your experience and perspective are, try talking about an idea for a few hours, but only in abstract terms. Don't describe events, and don't talk about people you know personally. Let me suggest a topic: how long can you speak on the nature of intelligence, not intelligent people, but what intelligence is. Try this exercise; it's very hard. Most people give up after speaking for 2 minutes because that's the longest train of thought they can handle. Well-read people can talk about it for hours. Once you start expanding your perception, your sentences will start sounding like, "Plato said this, and Marcus Aurelius thought of it in this way," rather than "I believe it to be this way."
The Downfall of Intellectual Pursuit
Well-read people quote others and say their own quotes while speaking, but most of us don't do that. We speak as if we are the authority on the subject matter. Whatever you know or believe is likely incomplete and wrong; do you know why? Because it takes more than 2 minutes of attention span to discover the truth. Now some of you might say that if I can be wrong, so can Socrates or any other thinker. True, but there's a big difference between us and them. For instance, Socrates could stand in the same position without eating, sleeping, or relieving himself for 48 hours and entertain a single thought. These people dedicated their lives to building logic and we've not even devoted an hour to abstract ideas.
Most people of my age are just stuck with the idea of a romantic partner or making their relationships about fun, that's all they want to think, that's all they can talk about, that's all they claim to know. If you want to understand how people really think, ask them about how they view love and romantic partners, and you will realize that there is no awareness, and all the answer appears extremely shallow. It's always about what they can receive and feel, there is no nuance, there is no logical argument, there is no deep connection, and none of the core components of love are there.
For instance, people's height is a deal breaker for a lot but not their idiocracy. I can give many such examples, but the point is how did we come to this, that we associate the worth of humans with such superficial things. Things that we are just born with, rather than something we build. There is no glory in how beautiful you are, how tall you are, how fair-skinned you are, you are just born with it, all the glory should be earned with hard work, not to be given to anyone by birth.
Romance vs. Broader Life Experiences
In exploring how limited we've become in our experiences, it's clear that many people only find their highest emotional highs in romantic relationships. Life, however, has so much more to offer beyond romance. Today's romantic pursuits have shifted from trust and longevity to fleeting enjoyment. This narrow focus overlooks the profound joys found in other realms of life.
The Thrill of Scientific Discovery
One of the most expansive experiences is understanding scientific processes and the thrill of discovery. The excitement that Archimedes felt upon discovering buoyancy, which led him to run naked in the streets, exemplifies the pure joy of intellectual achievement. Have you ever felt this level of joy while engaging in romantic pursuits, I bet not. This love for creation, or 'Agape', is a rare experience in our current society. Most people never venture into the territory of original thought, missing out on the intellectual highs that surpass any other. The decline in scientific literacy and the general disdain for science discussion are concerning signs of our narrowing experience. I have been shushed so many times for talking about scientific discoveries, but why shouldn't I talk about it, if I find it marvelous and core of human experience. The joy of discovery or creation is unparalleled, just you and your brain, taking an insanely complex intellectual journey. I can vouch for this unparalleled joy from my personal experience, intellectual highs are crazy, better than any other high where you remain in control of your faculty. Think this for a moment, it is the capacity to make intellectual discoveries that truly separates us humans from animals. Nothing else makes us more human than intellectual pursuits. I feel sorry that scientific literacy is decreasing and people are not talking about science actively. And if some among us do that, we look down upon them. Gossip is what we want and live for.
Spirituality and Inner Peace
The next experience is about divinity, I rarely come across people who even understand what it means to have a spiritual experience. People have lost faith, and can't comprehend the vastness of spiritual experience. It can't come without calming of ego, it is something that changes the very world we perceive. Think of it like this, will you give up your current lifestyle based on a dream. But people do give up a lot of things once they go through the spiritual experiences. It's the highest and most beautiful level of perception. Rarely do we meet anyone who has gone through such transformative experiences. I don't have words to describe these experiences, but I can give you a test on how calm you are; how many of you can count your heartbeat without touching any part of your body, this tells a lot about how calm you can make your mind and body. Experiencing divinity needs stillness, which a lot of us are missing and thus unable to perceive it in any shape or form.
The Value of Genuine Friendship
Patriotism and National Love
Next is the love for the country, I'll keep this short, how many of us are willing to die for our tribe and country, almost none. Countries are struggling to hire people in the army, and don't you dare tell me we don't need armies, we should think more about love and peace. Are you able to do that, not judge people, based on their status, ethnicity, or physical attributes? And if you can, you've already reached a higher state of existence, where you are not bothered by looks or money, and do everything in your life as a service to humanity. People will quite often say that they don't judge people on these, but this is the biggest lie I have heard in my life, which becomes very apparent, the moment you look into their partner selection criteria. None of us are in that state. Even Swami Vivekananda talked about his love for the nation and if he saw the importance of a Nation, then we are no one to go and talk about removing every border.
The Consequence of Lost Focus
Now think for a moment, we lost our experience to focus and thus never experienced the joy of true discovery, never had a single original idea, lost our numerical and writing literacy, became susceptible to slave mindset, lost our brothers, lost love for our country and lastly, lost the ability to even comprehend spiritual experiences. Now tell me, have we actually enhanced our experiences or diminished them? A lot of people can't seem to find joy in art and literature, they can't put their minds to it for long. Human perception is reduced because we lost our capacity to focus for long. The best experiences and thoughts will only be divulged when you're ready to be bored, focused, and then finally amazed. As I'm writing this, I'm literally getting goosebumps, thinking about all the discoveries I made in my own life.
Da Vinci spent 2 years studying the interplay of light, shadow, and fabric. Imagine the joy he must have found in his discoveries. All our experiences are becoming more and more fleeting just helping us to pass the time, but not giving us a sense of purpose and a deeper satisfaction that lasts longer than the act of doing it. If you've ever dipped your feet in playing an instrument, you will know that having a great jamming session is something that soothes you even after it is finished. Personally, music is something that I can never have enough in my life. I start my day with music and end with it.
Please learn how to be bored, learn to observe, learn to entertain thoughts for hours, and build a scientific temper. Life's truest joy is not in external travel but in the intellectual journey. Read Stephen Hawking's life, he will tell you that he traveled the entire universe with his mind, and it is more interesting than any travel we can ever partake in. Get over this idea that the most joy in life is to have a romantic partner, it is in building your own castle of thoughts and traveling those.
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