In a world full of technology, our generation heavily relies on our cellphones. Being surrounded by them in our everyday lives makes things much more convenient, but in reality, they’re taking away aspects of our lives we’re too oblivious to be aware of. Whenever we encounter something that interests us, we immediately pull out our phone by instinct, which takes away from experiencing the moment firsthand.
Your Visual Memories
When recording something on your phone, your brain will automatically be convinced that the camera has it covered, which limits living in the moment and truly remembering core memories. Multiple psychological studies have shown data on how constantly taking pictures or videos on your phone eventually steers you to forget the experience. Sure, the quality will be great; you can zoom into details, but looking back on them can make it fuzzy or unclear.
Taking the Action
Going out to eat with friends or family, attending concerts, or experiencing important events can all be enjoyable without our phones. Not eating the food right away or waiting for that “picture perfect” moment can take away so much from the moment. This not only affects your personal memories, but others as well. Having people pause what they are doing to snap a photo can make the person frustrated. It can be hard to break the habit of instantly pulling out your phone, but once you start living without it as much, you feel much more in the moment.
Untalked About Aspects
The camera lens leaves many aspects behind. The atmosphere can be captured but it also leaves out elements like smells, temperature, or mood. Instead of centering your focus on what’s happening in front of you, suddenly the angle isn’t high enough, the lens is blurry, it’s too close up so you have to move back, along with all sorts of other irritating factors. These little nitpicks make photographing more exhausting and more like a chore than anything else.
Social Media
In modern times, this topic is extremely common. Posting photos or videos online to impress others drives people to do whatever it takes to get the ideal picture. Eventually, people can get hooked on the feeling of what people think of them, creating a persona online that doesn’t portray them correctly in reality. From another perspective of social media affecting the way people think, there is a subtle social pressure that if an event or fun activity wasn’t photographed, it “didn’t really happen”. Going along with this, there’s a saying, “Pics or it didn’t happen,” which originated in 2003 to explain the demand for photographic proof to back up what you claimed to have done.
Digital Junkyard
Lastly, having a junkyard of thousands upon thousands of photos/videos over the span of years can bury the memories you made, causing them to lose their importance. We spend so much time and effort trying to get the “best shot” that, as time goes on, they just become normal photos.
To summarize, living through your phone screen takes away from living in the moment. Of course, we all love to take pictures, videos, or vlogs, but it is crucial to remember to stay grounded.