Half Cyborg Already?

Take a look around. All ages, all colours, all creeds. The merging of humans and machines has been slowly progressing for decades. And the momentum of uptake is increasing at an alarming pace.

The rot has well and truly set in. And it is rot. As I write this, I’m very conscious of the fact that I’m part of this growing zombie horde. At least as much as the poor denizens of cyberspace that I will refer to. Can you see yourself in this picture? That’s me on the far left by the way.

To be fair, I’m in the process of cutting back on my time online. I doesn’t take a genius to figure out it’s a practice that’s detrimental to ones physical, mental and spiritual health. And yet I partake way more than I should. What does “cutting back” mean anyway? Cutting back from 8 hours a day to 7? From 5 hours a day to 4? From 2 hours a day to 1? Is it even possible these days to cut it out completely, given the shift in music listening, movie watching, entertainment, photography, video recording, working and communicating all being done almost exclusively on a mobile phone or device?

Back in the 80’s I got an Atari games console one Christmas. It was made of wood with a couple of sharp metal levers protruding from the body. The games came preloaded on cartridges and cost a fortune. The joystick was a black blob of plastic with a red button in one corner and another rubber coated metal spike in the middle. State of the art back then. I was hooked, this was cutting edge stuff for a kid who only knew snakes and ladders and boxed board games.

Then came the Commodore 64. Games came on cassette tapes and had to be loaded up every time you wanted to play. The graphics got better and the controllers got more innovative. They had two red plastic buttons, instead of only one. The Nintendo systems followed. Then Playstations. X-boxes. Online multiplayer games.

Dial up internet. Broadband. Fibre. All merging together. Mobile phones with four ring tones and a preloaded game of Snake on the Nokias. Cameras were added. Digital ones. 1MP, then 5MP, now, who knows how many MP? Amazon was spawned and the high street started its long, slow death spiral into oblivion.

And here we are.

There’s a facility on most devices these days to measure time spent staring at your screen. Some look out of curiosity. Some avoid knowing, as the truth is painful and can easily burst the bubble of denial as to how addicted we have become.

Groups of kids, small children in prams, the elderly, couples, people driving cars, preachers in pulpits, cops on duty. Easily spotted with faces glued to phones. Are they even phones anymore? After all, who talks to each other these days? Grunting and drooling over the screen is the new normal for conversing with ones fellow humans. Or children, Or husbands, or wives, or customers.

There’s talk of brain implants (and yes, it’s really happening), AI development and Transhumanism. Immortality in cyberspace. Many will claim to shun this tech if it becomes more readily available. But we’re well on the way. Our phones aren’t implanted in our heads but they are welded to our hands. By choice. No financial incentives needed, no bribery, no coercion of any kind, to be fair. Just a constant exposure to something we perceive to have enhanced our existence, when in reality it is contributing at least in part, to our potential demise.

If you think I’m being overly dramatic, next time you’re out in public for an extended period of time, rip your face away from your own device and see how others are attached to theirs.

And if you’re convicted and saddened by this clip, bear in mind it’s now at least six years old. And things haven’t exactly improved.

So take heed and adjust. You can radically reduce your time online and still perform the things you need to do. You don’t need to check emails multiple times a day. With respect, you’re not that important. Or your social media accounts. Nobody really cares about what you post except you. And maybe a handful of others. At best. Try and limit your time to 30 minutes a day on the things you’re spending 5+ hours a day on.

Read physical books. Listen to music without checking on other things. Watch a good movie without your phone in your hand. You might even try having a conversation with a loved one instead of texting them! Imagine that! Don’t start and end your day with a vice like grip on your phone and bleary eyes.

Just a few suggestions that I’m trying to incorporate into my own routine. Even if it is two steps forward, one step back, its still progress. And progress is progress.

Rick.