Finding Ourselves in the Age of Technology
“We've arranged a civilization in which most crucial elements profoundly depend on science and technology. We have also arranged things so that almost no one understands science and technology. This is a prescription for disaster.”
― Carl Sagan
There is no formula for love. There is no formula for how to be human. No guidebooks for what to eat, how to dress or who to be that transcends all people. There are no answers that guarantee happiness. This is what we call life.
For scientists, their world is a series of discoveries. They are fueled by the intense craving to understand HOW the world works. What mechanisms feed other mechanisms to create, manipulate, and control aspects of our existence. Their worlds border on magic, as they uncover mysteries that lead to mysteries of this earth that we inhabit. Everyone on earth could be a scientist, and we still would never understand exactly why this life functions the ways that it does.
For spiritualists, their world is fueled by the WHY of life. The motives and morals that trickle through humanity and guide us through our decisions, are what fascinate and captivate the people dedicated to spirit. The how is not as important as the why. The why is the how, even though sometimes it misses the mark of how to handle the visible materials that we coexist with.
Every person is some compilation of experiences, places, and people that have constructed their particular view of the world. As animals, we are fundamentally led by our basic needs (food, shelter, love, etc.) and then those are coupled with our intrinsic mental position within them. We place value where we have been taught to place value, and in today’s Western society, we have deviated value far from the power of connection, communication, care and nurturance. We take these for granted and aggressively pursue lives that fulfill our economic needs.
Technology is an incredible catalyst for our way of viewing the world. We are bombarded daily (so much so that we have heard the word ‘bombarded’ so much that we shut down when people start to talk about Being bombarded), with facts, figures, ideas, rants, memes, and the whole shebang of strongly opinionated people in the world. We have been taught to take what people say as truth, without being taught how to evaluate whether or not what someone is saying is true for us.
But how do we know what is true? We don’t. There is no truth. Nothing is absolute. Hate to break it to ya, but the only thing that is true, is what our hearts and mind believe is true. This is why it is so important to slip away from routine, friends, and lovers, and to learn how to be with ourselves. I’m personally not a fan of silent seated meditation, but a lot of people are, so I suggest finding whatever it is for you that allows you the space to watch your thoughts. I completely understand if you want to keep scrolling and look for some cheat, but there isn’t one. Your only job in this life is to figure out what your truth is and how it serves the bigger picture.
To be clear: the only way to get real about what you think is true, is to find out what you think is true.
Our entire make-up as human beings has been programmed into us through a mix of our genetic structure, and then the experiences it experienced in becoming who we are today. Our most positive qualities have been re-enforced as ‘good’ (think you’re so pretty, I love the way you cook, you run so fast, I love how you take care of me… etc) while our negative traits have been suppressed and subdued. We aren’t taught how to spend time witnessing our ‘negative traits’ and seeing what they may be teaching us about where we have come from or where we are going.
All this really means is that we need to slow down and be scientists and spiritualists of how and why of who we are. This uncovers what role we have to play in society, which inevitably trickles out into the bigger picture of humanity. I firmly believe that the influx of technology and social media and constant connection has severed us from the most true parts of ourselves. We have forgotten how to feel, for ourselves.
When it comes to romance and partnership (another thing we place our value on) I have seen too many brilliant and amazing friends hop on bumble looking for romance, without realizing how much romance comes from our ability to entertain and love ourselves. Our craving for a person is intensified by the constant awareness of other people’s ‘persons,’ while we sink into a sad misery of feeling unloveable and unworthy. Technology is the answer and solution for a lot of things, but it teeters on the edge of protecting vs. destroying us on a daily basis. Our worth is increasingly external while we sell ourselves to virtual worlds.
Finding our true selves while watching a million other people trying to find theirs, is a task that no human is ever fully ready for. It starts simply. If you want to start, walk away from your phone and watch your thoughts. Watch your thoughts about your phone. About the anxiety of being unreachable. About the calm you feel after opening and scrolling through Instagram…. And then, watch your thoughts about Instagram. If you like the person you are sharing. If you feel more safe or scared after posting photos… And then, watch your thoughts on food, on money, on your friends, on how you feel overall about being alive… And then, ask yourself why.
When you find answers, ask if you would share them with someone else. If not, why not? If so, how can you. Our true selves are already there lurking within us. Little unknowns in the brink of expansion. And the world needs more people who are open, and can feel the weight, of life as it is.