Of course, there are no real surprises here, the last 25 years has seen a technological revolution akin to the industrial revolution, but what is perhaps something to reflect upon is that we as a human race have/are arguably not adapted well to this. The headline stories that have dripped out over the last 10 years of people's lives falling apart at the loss of their phone - "man drowns in road drain as he head first searches for his phone that dropped down into it" have got to bring us up sharp to question whether we are getting our priorities right.
But let me confess (of course you will know this if you know me well) that I am part of the problem, but I would like to think that I could be a part of the solution? I love my smartphone too. I love everything that it does for me. I take a monthly mag to read up on the latest developments, & this week I tried to upgrade a year early, but no way! As an Android user I like what my phone does for me, and yes it really does work for me. My phone keeps my diary & contacts that syncs to my office PC, it keeps track of ten of my email accounts (I have others), allows me to store important data, make use of dropbox, social network to my 3 Facebook accounts, and 2 Twitter accounts, as well as update my blog, GPS navigate, browse the net, read the Times newspaper, listen to the radio and podcast, play music, scan barcodes, watch auction items on ebay, play games, take photo's and videos, watch iplayer, read books, .......oh and yes, of course, how stupid, text and make phone calls! Truth is, my smartphone kind of runs my life.
But let me make a 2nd confession to you: more and more now, particulary at the end of the day I'm getting borred of my smartphone, and actually have had enough of the way in which it dominates my life! In essence I find myself feeling that there must be more to life than this blessed clever lump of plastic, which seems to dominate my life. And whenever the different ring tones go off for each inbox, or text, why do I feel that I need to respond to it? Actually, far from improving my life and making life better, easier(?) it's made it worse. I actually don't want to be available 24-7. (Ah, but there's an app to sort that you know!).
But let me widen this away from personification to some observations. So much has the mobile impacted upon our culture, that now we often see people communicating with each other via text or social media, than having a face to face conversation. Think nothing of 2 friends chatting, whilst one of the friends is texting away to another friend somwhere else. Couples can now be seen to argue or sort out their relationships and or divorce or seperation by text. Bosses and companies seem to make workers redundant by text or email! And seemingly the camera life of the mobile has now been twisted and perverted so that it has become a tool of child abuse and sexual perversion. Of course it cuts both ways, probably the fall of middle east countries would not have happened without social media! But it seems our culture is so infected, that we even see people coming to church now and texting or surfing during the service, and children playing DS and Ipod games!
All in all, the archetypal image in the UK is of the person walking down the street with childen in tow, not enjoying the world, and chatting and playing with the kids, but on the phone to someone. The person rushing down the street - and in their hands will be keys and phone in hand. And the example we are setting to our children is that all of this is just fine - "go and do likewise, don't actually talk to people or play anymore, but pick up a console and use it! Don't talk to your parents and friends face to face about your fears and concerns and the day you've had, but go on your phone, ipod or games console!" So if our society and culture is falling apart because our children no longer have the social skills or ability to chat, debate, listen, forgive, cry, negotiate and emphasise, then don't blame them, but look to the example we are setting them.
I cannot but reflect upon the time we are wasting, the life we are losing, the skills we are forgetting, the relationships we are killing. Consider: if you spend 1 hour a day social networking, or 3 hours a day attached to your mobile, thats 7 hours and 21 hours respectively. It's also 364 hours a 156 hours a year respectively. Thats 29,120 hours and 12,480 hours in a typical lifetime of 80 years. Think what else we could be doing, the places we could go. And all of that is just on the phone, it doesn't include people going on to laptops, ipads and PC's, which might add a further 4 + hours a week. Think about these daft apps - both on phones and Facebook, games such as Farmville and the like that you are invited to play in your own little protected cyber world, that keep making you want to go back for more and more and more. Think about how overweight the population is growing as we sit in zero physical activity. Think about the number of workers who might today whilst at work on the works time, sit in front of their Facebook page! If we agree that our communities, families and relationships are falling apart, then look no further than these issues for the root of the problems.
As a Christian I hear the words of Jesus "I have come that you might have life, and have it abundantly" ringing in my ears, and I reflect that what is killing this full life, is our own lack of discipline and focus.
So I want to suggest that it's only our own personal decision to manage our lives IN DISCIPLINE that can save us from this creeping disease. It's something that I need to do more, and you do too. Let's not "throw the baby out with the bathwater" mind, but lets choose to live differently! Here are some sugegstions that I too am taking up:
- Switch the phone off at 7pm and on again at 7am, and definitely put it away at meal times.
- Ration your social networking hours - see it as credit to be used, like a calories that must not be exceeded.
- Work hard at having face to face conversations, not text ones.
- Have periods of fasting from all of these powerful forces, espec Facebook and Twitter.
- Never let it control you, but you control it!
- Re-discover the joys of talking to your spouse and children.
- Instead of going on the phone or computer, go walk, swim, cycle or kick, or even read a book!
All in all, SWITCH IT OFF!
