Stay with us
A young woman was hit by a commuter train in a neighboring town two days ago. She was crossing the rail tracks while texting an listening to an iPod. All the people waiting for the train were screaming to warn her. She did not hear them. According to this article, UK sees 17 fatalities of this kind every day. It's heartbreaking.
And I am writing this post because I believe we can prevent it.
The authors of "Ethics of The Fathers" had different versions of things that take a person out of this world:
Earphones, Smart-phones and LCD displays take a person out of this world
Don't get me wrong, I love my iPhone, the Internet, loud music and addictive games. I'm a big fan of movies, vodka, ice-cream and thrill rides, and creative fusions of all of the above.
There's just one little problem: these experiences are too dense. They are too much for me sometimes. It's too hard to say 'No' and even harder to say 'Enough'. It's almost impossible to listen to your child while watching a good action sequence on a big screen. It's easy to forget to eat your veggies if you started your breakfast with Häagen-Dazs. Superman flight in Six Flags beats commute to NYC hands down.
When I was young I was strong. I could take anything. I could party all night and sleep all workday. I could drink twice as much hard liquor as you could and then puke twice as far. I could take a month out of my life to show Sid Meier how to play Civilization.
Now I'm weak. And I know I can't handle some things well. I know statistics apply to me too. I know I don't need to try hard to take myself out of this world, I work every day to stick around. Big and frequent parties start to wear me down. Digesting delicacies is hard work, I get tired. I miss my chores, my routine, beans and kefir.
One of the main reasons I love iPhone so much is because it fits into my pocket so well I can forget it's there.
And I do forget it until I really need it. I would never by an iPad, because it's Unproportional Magic for my not-so magical life, Too-Glamorous gadget for not-so-glamorous me.
Hey You! Would you please unplug for me? Would you turn the cool music off and listen to the uncool nothing? Would you take your eyes off LCD and count the colors in one pixel of dirt under your feet, one inch of a sky on our desktop? Would you ignore the Smart Phone and notice the Stupid People? We're still here. Stay with us.
And I am writing this post because I believe we can prevent it.
The authors of "Ethics of The Fathers" had different versions of things that take a person out of this world:
- The evil eye, the evil desire and hatred of his fellow creatures
- Sleeping away the morning, drinking at noonday, childish playing and sitting in the meetinghouses of the unlearned
- Jealousy, lust, and ambition
Earphones, Smart-phones and LCD displays take a person out of this world
Don't get me wrong, I love my iPhone, the Internet, loud music and addictive games. I'm a big fan of movies, vodka, ice-cream and thrill rides, and creative fusions of all of the above.
There's just one little problem: these experiences are too dense. They are too much for me sometimes. It's too hard to say 'No' and even harder to say 'Enough'. It's almost impossible to listen to your child while watching a good action sequence on a big screen. It's easy to forget to eat your veggies if you started your breakfast with Häagen-Dazs. Superman flight in Six Flags beats commute to NYC hands down.
When I was young I was strong. I could take anything. I could party all night and sleep all workday. I could drink twice as much hard liquor as you could and then puke twice as far. I could take a month out of my life to show Sid Meier how to play Civilization.
Now I'm weak. And I know I can't handle some things well. I know statistics apply to me too. I know I don't need to try hard to take myself out of this world, I work every day to stick around. Big and frequent parties start to wear me down. Digesting delicacies is hard work, I get tired. I miss my chores, my routine, beans and kefir.
One of the main reasons I love iPhone so much is because it fits into my pocket so well I can forget it's there.
And I do forget it until I really need it. I would never by an iPad, because it's Unproportional Magic for my not-so magical life, Too-Glamorous gadget for not-so-glamorous me.
Hey You! Would you please unplug for me? Would you turn the cool music off and listen to the uncool nothing? Would you take your eyes off LCD and count the colors in one pixel of dirt under your feet, one inch of a sky on our desktop? Would you ignore the Smart Phone and notice the Stupid People? We're still here. Stay with us.