What Would Life Look Like Without Smart Phones?
Photographer removes our smartphones to show our strange and lonely new world
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Introduction here by Kim:
Here's the truth of things: slowly, slowly over the past 20 years since the first introduction of the internet, life has changed for us humans on planet earth.
The analogy we can use is 'cooking a frog slowly': to cook a frog, you put it in a pot of cold water and slowly bring it to the boil, so it doesn't notice it is being cooked. Eventually it dies.
This is precisely what is happening in the world today: not only are we being irradiated through wireless technology (cell phones, cell towers, wifi, cordless phones, modems, electric cars and much more) but we are losing our natural HUMANNESS.
Simultaneously we see a massive rise in digital technology, and for some reason which I still cannot fathom, a desire for 'virtual reality' (VR) and increased use of artificial intelligence (AI).
Whilst technology has its uses and benefits, when it DE-HUMANIZES us then we have to question, 'have we gone to far', and how wise are we being? According to many wise teachers of wisdom (eg. Eckhardt Tolle, Yuan Tze and many more) we are not being wise at all.
So think about this:
If you own a cell phone, ipad, note book, computer... can you imagine what you day would look like if you ongoingly no longer had access to any of these digital devices? What would your day look like? Can you even imagine?
This is the dramatic change which has occurred in just the last 10-20 years, a fraction of time in earth life.
How we proceed from here is up to each one of us.
For me, I see a need to return to community, where people meet and connect authentically without the need for technology. And somehow to wisely use our technology to serve us so that we don't become its slave.
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Excerpt from the article:
US photographer Eric Pickersgill has created “Removed,” a series of photos to remind us of how strange that pose actually is. In each portrait, electronic devices have been “edited out” (removed before the photo was taken, from people who’d been using them) so that people stare at their hands, or the empty space between their hands, often ignoring beautiful surroundings or opportunities for human connection. The results are a bit sad and eerie—and a reminder, perhaps, to put our phones away.
Read the full article and see all the photos here:
Photos courtesy of Eric Pickersgill
