Dear World,
What have we allowed to happen to us?
When did we collectively agree that our lives could be ruled by electronic rectangles, and why did we give the virtual world so much power over the real one?
Why do we allow social media alerts to take precedence over the people we’re having dinner with, and why do we interrupt real-life conversations for those sent via text message?
When did politeness give way to productivity, and why are special moments interrupted for selfies?
What in the world have we allowed to happen to us?
We’ve created a life where we can’t fully be with the people we’re with because we’re so concerned about what’s going on where we aren’t.
We’ve become a generation of people who find our worth in likes and comments and who can’t fathom not posting every detail of our days. We’ve said it’s acceptable to have thousands of virtual friends and few real ones and to spend more time Snapchatting our acquaintances than speaking to our families.
It’s insanity, world, and we can do better. We have to do better.
The chemical dopamine is an interesting thing. It is released when we encounter a reward, prompting us to repeat the reward’s cause. This is why dopamine is often associated with gambling, drugs, and drinking alcohol. These activities bring pleasure, or a reward, and the body likes these rewards.
Did you know that social media and cell phone alerts are rewards to our systems? We feel pleasure when someone sends us a text, likes our post, or comments on our picture. Dopamine floods our bloodstream, and our bodies ask for more. So we go back to social media and back to our cell phones to repeat the actions that released the dopamine.
