I’ve been thinking about this more lately. I’m not online more or less than anyone else, but like it can be with drinking alcohol or smoking cigarettes, maybe even doing it every now and then is not all that good of an idea. Of course, everyone does it, and it’s not clear given all the other ways our lives could be devastated, that doing something ‘mildly bad’ is a problem per se, but the accumulation of these ‘mildly bad’ actions can culminate in our life being less than in could have been, less rewarding, and less fulfilling.
There is an unnatural, discontinuous nature to our interactions on the internet vs. living life. Our lives have a finite, fleeting (analog) nature whereas our participation online is perfectly (digitally) captured and spread more deeply and permanently. In a sense, our worldly experience is imperfect but real, whereas our online contribution is an alien representation of ourselves. In the modern world, this online life is becoming more ‘human’ and living a life without internet interactions is becoming foreign.
Anyway, I’m interested in starting the conversation. What do you think about where this new reality is headed?
ESCAPEVELOCITY2020 