by Walker Laughlin
There’s no mistaking that we are living in the long anticipated Electronic Age. After all, anyone who isn’t 500 miles underground has stroked an iPhone, seen the infamous “Friday” video, and had some Breaking Bad episode spoiled for him or her. The influence of technology can be seen almost everywhere, but while we like to think of these societal additions as “gifts” brought to us by centuries of development and creativity, I believe that the groundbreaking innovations that have defined our century possess their fair share of flaws.
Take, for instance, the way the average attention span of people my age and below has lowered from that of an advanced life form to a level most easily compared to a common goldfish. We Millennials just can’t focus on one thing at a time anymore; with the addition of smartphones, tablets, and portable gaming systems, everything we do becomes less of a real experience and more of an interim between games of Candy Crush and online conversations with friends. There’s no denying that my peers and I have become slaves to the screen.
This new relationship between attention seizing electronics and their adoring operators first became evident to me when my family and I visited the breathtaking ruins of Machu Picchu. The trip was five years ago, when iPhones and iPods were only beginning to latch on to our minds, and so the bright glow of a welcoming screen was as foreign to me as the boisterous group of Germans that accompanied me and my family in the tour bus.
When the loud and bumpy ride to the crest of Mt. Machu Picchu ended and my family and I finally got to say “Auf Wiedersehen” to our new European acquaintances, we were made speechless by the magnificence of the 500 year old engineering and architectural wonders that panned below us. Mazes of restored buildings provided me with entertainment and knowledge as I ran through the rows and columns of perfectly chiseled stone and admired the many ancient buildings; my ten year old self beamed with fascination and energy. I felt like I was in a kid’s paradise, but it didn’t take long to find that not all children appreciated the ruins as I did.
As I neared what remained of an ancient Incan temple, I was flabbergasted by the sight of a cluster of Gameboy playing children. Coming from a family that had parents who were reluctant to even purchase a TV, I had never considered that some people would prefer saving Gotham City or stacking cumbersome block-structures to discovering the wonder of the world around them. But there those kids were, in one of the most fascinating and engaging places in the world, prioritizing their frivolous virtual realities over a once in a lifetime experience.
Sadly enough, clusters of screen addicted children have taken residence in nearly every conceivable place on Earth. I see them at school, in museums, and even out in treasured natural areas like Yellowstone National Park. Wherever there are screens, Wi-Fi networks, or nicely shaded nooks and chairs, there’s bound to have once been huddles of digitally interacting minors. Devices and their users have truly become inescapable.
I can even see these “screen-addicts” in the halls of our campus, playing games on their new school-issued iPads or screwing around with the Photobooth programs on the Macbooks in the Digital Learning Lab. Sure, teachers may think that their pupils are eagerly accomplishing whatever online task they’ve been assigned when they see wide grins behind the screens of school tablets and computers, but the truth is that almost every Drake student has at least once found the enticing glow of a trendy new app more compelling than their online assignments.
The image of the withdrawn and electronic device obsessed kid has become the most common stereotype for my generation, a model which I think we Millennials should be ashamed of. We young adults have the capacity to make life much richer with our new technological tools, yet I still would be surprised if pointless yet addicting games and hours spent away from real life is what media visionaries like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates truly envisioned when they brought their awe-inspiring creations to society. I think that if we humans power down our devices and breathe in the beauty of the real world, we can truly make an impact with the new innovations we have designed instead of living in a screen induced state of nearly constant passivity and boredom. All we have to do is log off.
Jolly Roger 