Isolation
These days, a lot of people are walking around with AirPods or similar noise-cancelling capable devices in their ears. I too, own a pair of AirPods. And sometimes, the noise cancellation can be quite useful.
But I also think it's very isolating. You stand in the middle of a big crowd, waiting for your train, but you don't hear anything around you. No chatter, no train noises, no bird songs. You are physically there, but you are not really there.
Being aware of this, and observing people wearing headphones, I look at them with a sense of sadness and dread. We are all together, standing next to each other, but we are far apart.
Oftentimes, I also see people interacting with other people — for example, at the checkout counter — and not removing their headphones. This makes me feel deeply sad and disappointed. Imagine you are the cashier working there, and your customers don't have the courtesy to remove their headphones for a second. Just to say hi. Just to connect for two seconds.
I am not the first one to notice this, not by far. But it's become increasingly evident to me that technology tears us apart. Social media is not social. We only exist and interact through screens. We work frome home. I don't need a fancy research study to understand that this might be one of the leading causes of mental health problems.
We overdid it with technology. Let's get back to being human. Let's get back to touch and smell.
But I also think it's very isolating. You stand in the middle of a big crowd, waiting for your train, but you don't hear anything around you. No chatter, no train noises, no bird songs. You are physically there, but you are not really there.
Being aware of this, and observing people wearing headphones, I look at them with a sense of sadness and dread. We are all together, standing next to each other, but we are far apart.
Oftentimes, I also see people interacting with other people — for example, at the checkout counter — and not removing their headphones. This makes me feel deeply sad and disappointed. Imagine you are the cashier working there, and your customers don't have the courtesy to remove their headphones for a second. Just to say hi. Just to connect for two seconds.
I am not the first one to notice this, not by far. But it's become increasingly evident to me that technology tears us apart. Social media is not social. We only exist and interact through screens. We work frome home. I don't need a fancy research study to understand that this might be one of the leading causes of mental health problems.
We overdid it with technology. Let's get back to being human. Let's get back to touch and smell.