For a decade now, humanity has transitioned into a new age.
You wouldn’t say caught up in chain-linked turbulent events streaming constantly through the media filter of reality and the trials and tribulations of daily life. However, the invention and widespread distribution of a miniature device opened up new avenues of thought but also new issues. In 2012, the smartphone reached the threshold of one billion units sold. In other words, one billion people around the world got hooked to a global network of information. Today, it’s estimated that there are around 6.9 billion smartphones in use, approximately 86% of the world's population.
The smartphone has become such an indispensable commodity for some that going about one's life without it is almost inconceivable. It’s always in hands-reach and when a thought pops up so does the device. You go to it to check the time and you get the news, you go for news and you get a jump-scare. It became like an appendix to a mind choked by excessively consuming information, much of which is of poor quality, that eventually generates perpetual stress. No wonder psychological issues and burnout have seen a rise parallel to this novel development, in a predominantly materialistic society there’s little to no education and discipline on how to keep your head clean and healthy.
Between instant communication, non-stop entertainment and all-round commercial endeavors, the user also gets the comfort of not using any critical thinking in dealing with various issues but two clicks away receives a ready-made answer that fits its idealised view of the world. Various appealing media outlets and hoards of celebrity idols funnel a range of topics that make the unwary user feel well informed and like they have some say in the matter.
In such a climate it’s no wonder that the world might seem like it’s going crazy sometimes, maybe it is, or maybe its just the heat. Increasingly stuck in an echo-chamber reality of the mind, walled in by tight social bubbles with familiarities, approvals and validations and superimposed by a thick virtual reality and further away from the actual reality with it's increasingly pressing issues. Who has time for actual reality when you can kick back and numb-out from manically mentally masturbating to some fantasy provided by your favorite streaming service. Right?
I try to keep myself away from such thoughts and the crippling pessimism you can easily slide into with such discombobulating prospects, but then again there’s also some good things going on and one of them is not the alleged artificial intelligence crushing the creative industries with mediocrities but rather the backlash of the creative minds forced into a corner.
We are still in a period of transition, but into what exactly it's hard to say. The age of the mind, the age of madness, the age of delusion or the age of mindfuck, all seem like fair titles at the moment.
