I was listening to a podcast that mentioned that Gen Z regularly binges old high school videos from the 80s and 90s on YouTube. The implication was that we really miss the old times of living in the moment. The time when you could talk to people anywhere, when nobody was on their phones all the time, when nobody was wearing airpods. To be honest, I am an old soul and I miss those times. There were no phones when I was in high school and I remember the time when you could go out and just be out.
I think about this a lot. What are we losing by being connected? We are so connected that we’re incredibly isolated. It’s so ironic yet it’s the lived experience. We don’t talk about it enough but we are gradually eroding the fabric of human connections. We are getting addicted to information overload. This isn’t normal. We aren’t designed or prepared to know everything all at once.
I don’t like to spread doomerism but this is something you can’t change on your own. Our behavior is dependent on other people. I can limit my screen time but I can’t substitute it with human interaction if other people are tied to their phones or computers. So, what can we do? I don’t have an answer but the best I could think of is to take concrete steps to reduce my screen time and increase my human interactions.
Here’s my plan:
- Limit screen time on phone and computer. This is the most basic part.
- No headphones in public spaces. This opens the possibility for interactions.
- Spend more time in public spaces. Goes well with the above.
- Embrace the discomfort and initiate conversation. Most people want to talk to others but everyone’s scared of initiating. It’s hard but I try to do it whenever I can. I struggle but I try to push myself to build this muscle.
- Remind myself that everyone is scared to initiate a conversation.
I follow the plan sometimes but life and fear gets a hold of time at other times. The goal is keep trying forever.