"The unfortunate thing, I think, is that part of what's happening is that we've lost our sense of actually experiencing things. We're just constantly, constantly recording things." - George Clooney during an NPR interview
I've thought about this for a good many years, especially every time I go to Iguaçu Falls in Brazil and observe how most visitors spend all their time snapping photos and recording videos. It seems no one is actually looking at the Falls, let alone giving time for their body to take in the beauty. No matter how amazing your camera is, you can't capture one and half miles of waterfalls in a picture. And if you spend all your time trying to capture a photograph, you might not even get the slightest sense of the breath-taking character of the falls.
I'm not against photos. It's nice to have some to share with friends, to put on your desktop background, to bring to mind fond memories. But I'd much prefer vivid memories of quality time lived out in the presence of great masterpieces (be these mountains or artwork or personalities).
It's important to think about why and how one wants to use technology. The trend of this our technological age is that these devices hold an ever more powerful sway over us. I, however, want to utilize technology according to my purposes, not be guided by its ever greater capabilities.
While I "liked" your post on Facebook before reading it, I think you'd say my phone wasn't cheap (even by American Standards) after having read it. But I think this is the reason that when Kathy and I went to the mountains for a weekend, I took only three photos.
ReplyDelete-j