The post-millennial era has Mark Zuckerberg and his team at Harvard to thank for. Who would have thought that the future of time-keeping, diary entry of thoughts, pictures and emotions are encapsulated in the form of Facebook.

We’ve become so connected and obsessed in documenting our daily lives from the mundane to the extraordinary. It’s amazing sometimes when we try to think about the fact that content is just at our fingertips. We can easily talk and share our opinions quickly, freely and (to some) anonymously – whether solicited or unsolicited.

I remember when I lived overseas where my lifestyle dictates me to be constantly online. Every time I notice that my phone battery is about to die – I feel like I’m about to die along with it too. The 'fear of missing out' from the virtual environment makes me jittery and neurotic. [FYI, the term has already entered into mainstream consciousness and made its way on the pages of dictionaries officially as ‘FOMO’.] I can’t find my way around because I have no GPS. I have no idea when the next bus is coming because I have no phone alarm – let alone the app itself. I’m not sure if the restaurant I’m about to go to still have enough seats. If my friends are on their way, I wouldn’t be sure how close they are to the meeting place. And if I’ve ordered food or having a great time, there’s no camera to capture the moment. And the list goes on and on…

It’s like a deer in the headlights scenario. The very idea of being offline feels more or less like a digital death and it is unimaginable. You see – it wasn’t like this before.

When internet and smart phones were not as widespread as it is now, (and that was how many eras ago, mind you!), people relied on common sense. If one had trouble locating a place, they'd go old school by asking people to point them in the right direction. The same goes with the time if one forgot to wear a watch. And if they're lucky, maybe meet a newfound acquaintance, a bit of small talk, a smile and little joke on the side to go along with it on a beautiful day. That’s pretty much more than you can get talking to actual three-dimensional people out there as opposed to your pocket-sized rectangular friend.

The sad thing is, in general, people have become too focused on their own daily affairs. Subconsciously, the habit of replacing the actual three-dimensional people over smart phones is prevalent in today’s society.

Take a good hard look around, provided that your device does not distract you, and you’ll see how people in the train, people who are eating out, people who are traveling and basically just people everywhere from all walks of life are plugged without acknowledging their surroundings.

For all we know, there are amazing things happening around us that we fail to see and perhaps, even take part of. And those are moments that we can’t go back to.

That guy who just slipped right across the street after stepping on a banana peel that happened in a space of 15 seconds would have been a funny sight. But we missed it – that 15 seconds alone is gone.

Let’s say, we did saw it and took a video of it. That would have been a potential gif or meme to go viral waiting to happen. But then again, so are capturing everything in our lives. It’s become, at times, a silly habit to take pictures of almost anything and everything we can think of from the food we eat to the clothes we wear.

Although it’s nice sometimes, but in the long run, it’s damaging us on how completely reliant we are to these devices. What if, just an exercise, we take away your smart phones (gasp!) for a day and test your memory skills. Try to witness the events that happened during the day and try recalling them at night. Remember anything special and specific – like, did you see that guy who slipped earlier? Did you notice his facial expression when it happened? How about the color of his shirt? Oh wait, was he wearing a shirt or a suit? See my point?

That said; give yourself a little favor to rely on your mental capacity to remember things naturally – without digital intervention via smart phones, tablets and laptops. And remember: GO OUT AND HAVE FUN! Be happy to be unplugged for a little while and relish the moment.


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Photo via CJ