Live
In the digital age, everything is so easy that nothing feels meaningful anymore.
Why work hard at a job when you can just get another one? Why learn a skill when you can just ask ChatGPT to tell you how to do it? Why fix a broken item when you can just buy another? Why go to the grocery store yourself when everything can be delivered? Why work so hard to save a relationship when you can easily get another date? Why meet up in-person when you can just Zoom? Why plan something yourself when you can ask your agent to do it? Why travel to some destination when you can just watch a YouTube vlog of someone else doing it?
We got so accustomed to optimizing our lives with excess convenience and productivity it feels like we forgot how to live.
Sometimes I feel like Wade from Kim Possible, the tech genius who doesn’t leave his bedroom.
When his physical presence is needed on a mission, he sends out his mobile robotic avatar. At this rate, it won’t be long until this becomes our reality.
A generation ago, we were scrapbooking, making mixtapes, requesting and borrowing library books, writing and mailing letters, showing up at people’s doors unannounced. All this stuff was so much work. But it was meaningful because we poured our hearts into every detail. Completing a task required more steps, so we made sure the tasks we took on truly aligned with our interests and priorities. We did less, but the things we did were memorable and truly special.
It’s funny seeing Gen Alpha kids in the present day discover a love for analog cameras, cassette tapes, tactile retro gadgets, and Y2K everything. I sometimes spot teenage girls out and about using point-and-shoot cameras, and think wow, all this technological progress but all they want is the Canon Powershot I had back in 2008? Like it or not, the kids are rebelling against the hyper-processed, polished output of the digital world, starting a cultural shift back towards a slower childhood and the authenticity found in a time they themselves never lived through.
They’re reminding us how to live again.
In the digital age, everything is so easy that nothing feels meaningful anymore.