What will the online world turn us into?
I recently traveled to China and discovered that people there use electronic devices even more obsessively than in the U.S. You see almost everyone with their heads down, staring at their phones; many people spend over a dozen hours a day on them. In restaurants, people no longer converse; they just play on their phones. Of course, you can do a lot with a phone—order meals, pay for anything. In fact, when I walked into a KFC and approached the counter to order, the clerk looked surprised and said, "Just order on your phone." That’s when I realized that without a phone, I wouldn't be able to function in the country. There were other shocking sights, too: people cycling while scrolling with one hand, or riding e-scooters and motorcycles while doing the same. I also took an Didi (China Uber); drivers usually had two phones—one for navigation and another they were constantly scrolling through. It was simply insane. Even though phone usage in the U.S. is already alarmingly high, it pales in comparison to what I saw in China. Sometimes I wonder what this online existence is turning us into—connecting our brains to a distant online community in a way that makes us forget our own physical bodies. For instance, I rarely eat a meal without taking out my phone; I’ve almost forgotten what food actually tastes like because I can’t focus on the flavor. Our brains have had all their attention forcibly hijacked by something akin to an algorithm. I’ve forgotten what it’s like to truly experience life. Perhaps by looking at a country with even higher phone usage, we can predict what our own society might become if this trend continues. From a pessimistic view, we are already compelled to use phones for so many tasks. When I drive my electric car, for example, I can't even locate charging stations without a smartphone. Phones have become an absolute necessity, yet they constantly demand our attention—to the point where, when I step away from the online world, I find real life incredibly boring and feel compelled to dive right back into that digital realm.