How many times did you laugh today?
How many interesting thoughts did you have today?
How many real conversations did you have?
***Now subtract the number of times you laughed because you were watching tv, thought something interesting because you read it online, or had a “conversation” through text message.
Let’s face it, there’s “real life” and then there’s what we thought we experienced through technology and media. American’s have become so consumed with tv, computers, and cell phones we forget to ever come out of our virtual worlds.
The “beauty” of reality tv is that we can watch pro skateboarders like Bam Margera and Rob Dydrek have fun all day and live vicariously though them. We don’t see them watching tv, chatting online, or reading People Magazine–they get paid to go out and actually live–and the rest of us are busy watching.
Special thanks to Bob who blogged about his experience doing whatever the heck he pleases. Thanks Bob for not starting your day by parking yourself infront of your media of choice.
You’re welcome.
Don’t get me wrong, I love the occasional episode of Rob & Big, but I’ve never really understood why people would rather live vicariously through them than recreate the fun in their own lives.
By: Bob Calise on June 27, 2008
at 10:20 pm
Matt,
I don’t have anything in particular against television or the internet, I do feel that it is possible to have too much of a good thing.
However, it is each individual’s to let the virtual world become overly dominant in their life, and people can avoid this trap by participating in a broad range of social activities outside of study or work.
Personally, I am fortunate in this regard. I live in a rural area in South Korea, and I have the opportunity to take a relaxing stroll through the mountains and rice fields and enjoy god’s wonderful creation on a regular basis.
Nevertheless, I find that in terms of having a social life, the internet has somewhat replaced real social interaction for me to some extent.
Cheers
Andrew
By: Andrew on July 2, 2008
at 11:36 am