These articles reminded me of something my dad always used to say, “The things that separate us from every other animal are our tongues and thumbs. They can’t speak to each other like we do. They can’t hold hammers like we do.” Try going a day without using your thumbs and you’ll realize how incapacitated we’d be without them. Thanks to our tongues and thumbs, we’ve penned symphonies and raised sky scrapers. Hallelujah.
I’ve also been reading this book called Steal Like An Artist. Here’s an excerpt that parallels the reading:
“While I love my computer, I think computers have robbed us of the feeling that we’re actually making things. Instead, we’re just typing keys and clicking mouse buttons…artist Stanley Donwood, who’s made all the album artwork for the band Radiohead, says computers are alienating because they put a sheet of glass between you and whatever is happening…Just watch someone at their computer. They’re so still, so immobile. You don’t need a scientific study (of which there are a few) to tell you that sitting in front of a computer all day is killing you, and killing your work. We need to move, to feel like we’re making something with our bodies, not just our heads. Work that only comes from the head isn’t any good. Watch a great musician play a show. Watch a great leader give a speech. You’ll see what I mean. You need to find a way to bring your body into your work. Our nerves aren’t a one-way street—our bodies can tell our brains as much as our brains tell our bodies. You know that phrase, “going through the motions”? That’s what’s so great about creative work: If we just start going through the motions, if we strum a guitar, or shove sticky notes around a conference table, or start kneading clay, the motion kickstarts our brain into thinking.”
Every generation has a distinct zeitgeist. And while I don’t think this is our only characteristic, I believe we suffer from apathy. We are an apathetic generation. And I attribute a lot of that to the time we spend on our phones. In 2016, a study found that the average person in the UK scrolls 5 miles on their phone! And that number has definitely only increased since. We spend all day absorbing information about life, but never actually live ourselves. Even when we’re off our phones, we think in the paradigms of the online-world, and bring that into our real-life interactions and conversations. It’s like using our technology the way we do has inserted a real glass wall into our lives. A lot of people feel constantly disassociated from themselves. And I think how we use technology today has something to do with that. We watch so many movies and TV shows but have lost sight of living the movie ourselves. Not watching ourselves through an audience’s eyes.
It’s like the reading said:
“We share the blood of cavemen who pushed spears into mammoths and drew pictures of them in the living room.” I was talking to my dad about this and he said, “Right? That was what it was all for? So we could jerk off to Instagram reels today.” And we had a laugh, but operating behind glass screens so much, we lose sight of who we really are as magical, living humans. My dad always says the two things to feeling the real magic of life again are sweat and breath. Sweat and breath. We can’t lose that if we’re going to keep our souls intact.
That’s another thing I remembered reading these articles. The disassociation I experience when involved in VR installations. Because I can see all of these incredible things happening, but I stumble out, wanting to feel. Wanting to touch this exciting world around me. Wanting to feel this new ground beneath my feet. But I don’t, and it’s incredibly disconcerting. I think as a culture, we’ve inundated ourselves to this. But I agree with the author, it can’t be that way forever. And if we’re going to make real art and real devices that amplify our capabilities of LIVING, something’s gonna have to give.