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Wired to Connect: 

What separates humans from animals is our desire to belong, our desire to matter and to make an impact in the world. We do that by connecting, by communicating and showcasing the unique gifts we have to offer. 

Add technology which has connectivity in its DNA and we are immediately intrigued. The promise of its potential to spread our message and share our ideas is vast. And that’s how we begin our relationship with technology.

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Why We Feel The Need To Cope: 

Unlike real life that can be boring and monotonous, on the internet, even if you want nothing, you can always get something. When we are bored, lonely and feel like we’re unable to make a dent in the world like we want to, we seek to distract ourselves with the enjoyment and fun the virtual world promises. 

What we forget though is that while the allure of the online world is undeniable, it is not curated for our own needs. Like with the nature of a book, the internet is infinite and doesn’t have a last page.

This perpetuity means the internet is ubiquitous. The avalanche of information can be overwhelming, confusing and indecisive, especially, for us who’re seeking to cope from real life. 

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Reel Life: 

We see others’ lives as high light reels on our social network walls and imbibe the glamor of it all through our glass screens. We come out of the experience with a sense of self that is skewed. As a result, we live our lives in content curation mode. We’re always making up our faces and our stories.

Instead of eating, we post pictures. Instead of reading, we watch without blinking. Instead of living, we pose and post. Even while shitting, we scroll through feeds of celebrities of their drug use and diets.

Eventually, we develop digital fatigue. Offline, we become moody and irritable because real life is not stimulating enough.

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Wired And Tired:

In the name of civic engagement, we’re getting caught up in the stupidity of crowds than wait to catch up on the wisdom of your inner self. We don’t want to live in the present because its too predictable and boring. We’re banking on our real lives to be rescued by adopting the values of a virtual world.

A true friend is one that truly gives from a bottomless vessel. That is what technology is for most of us. But can it be called a true friend, when it doesn’t put a check on our addiction habits and rather is programmed to do just the opposite?

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Tapping Into Our Inner Wisdom: 

When you’re in Big Tech’s company, there’s very little space for private thought. We stop experiencing ourselves in the present moment because we don’t pause to acknowledge our passing thoughts.

We communicate often without having a chance to read facial cues and study the body language of the person we’re interacting with. And we don’t pick up on the subtle nuances of the conversation, the verbal tone and in turn fail to empathize accordingly.

We consult our online dictionaries when we want the definitions of the words we won’t even remember tomorrow. We open our maps to check on the size of the yard that our friends are getting their new homes built on.

But, we don’t stop to label our thoughts of pain, desire, regret and excitement when we’re in the now. We don’t stop to consult our inner wisdom, our intuition, before we react or make life changing decisions.

We forget that the answers to our anxieties and worries are available to us with the wisdom of our age, our past and our inherent intuition.

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Technology Is Not A Coping Mechanism:

Are we being intentional about our use of a medium that was just thrusted into our hands without a guide on how to navigate it? Are we dodging our loneliness with mindless surfing? And are we stunting our inner wisdom by keeping ourselves inert with too much of external stimuli?

Technology has given the common man a platform for arm chair advocacy and activism. But, how many of us can actually report receiving a hug via the internet? Outside of places like Change.org and GoFundMe.com, did any of us pause enough to wipe the drool of the old people in our lives to whom we owe so much of the luxury of our present moments?

When did you last pick up the phone to tell someone that you need to be saved from your own loneliness?

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Truth About Technology – A Digital Literacy Project

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