What kind of story
are you living? Or maybe a more pointed question: Whose story are
you living?
Did you know that
when you work really hard on a project, blood flow increases to to
your brain and overflows into your brain's pleasure center? This
gives you an enjoyable feeling of accomplishment. However, according
to Dr. Jeff Myers in the movie CAPTIVATED (see previous post), when
we use technology like video and computer games, they give us the
same feelings of pleasure. Only, that is because they drain blood
from the executive center into the pleasure center. As a result, we
feel good and like we have accomplished something—and we haven't.
When I learned
that, I heard a sinister echo of Huxley's “Brave New World.”
Instead of soma, the panacea for all feelings of discomfort or ill,
we can manufacture a pleasure fix for ourselves with our ubiquitous
technology. Instead of the 'feelies', we watch 3D HD movies and
vicariously enjoy the characters' experiences.
As our world
becomes increasingly virtual, our lives are too. Technology does
have a role in business and school, but what is its role in our
entertainment and 'free time'? Is our 'free time' becoming a
self-imposed jail sentence to technology?
As a student, I
find that I use the computer a lot. It facilitates essays and
research. But when I watched the clips from CAPTIVATED, I thought
about how much 'screen time' I have and I was surprised.
Lately I have been
struggling with what kind of impact I have on my world. More to the
point, I am struggling with the lack
of impact I seem to exert on my world. Then I wondered what kind of
impact I expected to have if all I did was sit in front of my
computer. “The Story of a Young Girl who Sat at the Computer”
doesn't sound very reportable or world-changing. It brings up a
haunting question:
Will the world
be a better place because I have lived—or will no one even notice
the loss of what could-have-been?
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you
present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God,
which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this
world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may
prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”
Romans 12:1-2
