So the other day, I was talking to SMIK about something that I've noticed in the evolution of human perception, and I wanted to know if I was crazy, or if SMIK observed a similarly developing pattern.
It seems, I said, that younger people (just about everyone in the world is younger than SMIK and I, who are both nearly dead) have become so concrete in their thinking -- that they only perceive what is directly laid out for them and have no recognition or time for subtlety.
SMIK gave me one of his "perhaps" nods.
He said that it was a result of the screening-off that people choose to do. Sure, the world is more crowded with people, but they're people who walk out in front of oncoming traffic because they're fixated by staring at little screens and have plugged up the holes in their heads with earbuds.
Everything they want or need is fed to them, right in front of their inattentive faces.
"I have a word for that condition," SMIK said.
"It's called ipodsolation."
I wonder if there's any merit in breaking through the hypnosis of ipodsolated man. It is kind of frustrating, and sad, too, in many ways.
I wonder who the new mutants are.
Do you have kids who don't have earbuds inserted into their relevant holes throughout the day? Or kids who don't stare into tiny Nintendo DS screens for hours on end? That don't play video games or watch the same Blu-Ray movie over and over?
(I still -- sigh -- have never watched a Blu-Ray movie... in fact, had to Google it just now to see how to spell it.)
Or -- God help you -- do your kids read BOOKS?
I asked SMIK if he thought this was all a sign of the real Zombie Apocalypse.
But he didn't know what I was talking about.
9 comments:
Valid point! Instead of braaaains they crave Flaming Hot Cheetos and Monster energy drinks.
This also reminds me of the last episode of Happy Endings. They compared Hipsters to mindless zombies.
Says the guy posting mobile uploads to Facebook from his iPhone.
Seriously though? My kids spend too much time on the internet, and both have cell phones that they use too much ... but we also sometimes watch TV together and GASP, all love to read!
Don't got kids or an iPod, but when I saw my nephew rode in the backseat with a DVD player stuck in front of his face, I was a bit disgusted.
Long car trips are for books. Looking at cows. Finding all the letters of the alphabet, in order, in road signs. Sigh...
My son both stares at his ipod-touch and his DS and the Wii. It scares me. But he also reads and reads and reads books. I sometimes have to tell him to put the book down so we can go out or so he can eat or so he can well, do anything else. He doesn't go anywhere without a book. I love that, because neither do I (go anywhere without a book, that is.).
We spend 7 days a week running from one baseball practice to another and tournaments, my two younger boys (9 and 10) made the Royal Reading Club at school because they each read over 40 books from Oct until April 1 - chapter books and Bluebonnet list books. My oldest reads his required reading and additional books at the same time and we all keep a book in the truck just incase we forget one for the road. So I don't have a problem with the few hours my kids spend between the video games and watching tv. BUT I will admit, when the tv is on or the video game they do become zombies.
I often find myself wondering what all the screens, big and small, are doing to children's neurodevelopment (and social development). Living in a cable-less household, as the parent of two small ones as yet uninitiated into the world of DS and iPod (and who do enjoy their books), I'm not dealing with most of that yet. But it's probably only a matter of time.
I would definitely argue that certain types of entertainment for children are healthier than others. For example there is no question (studies have been done, but I'm no expert) that reading books, and using your imagination to play make believe make a child grow up to be a smarter person. Also eating dinner as a family makes a difference.
My own strategy, as a parent, is to make reading as fun as possible. I'm blessed that I have two kids who already love to read, but I also never take reading away when they're being punished. I may take their privileges like computer or TV, but reading is not a privilege, it's a right.
Unfortunately I have three boys (two teens and one five yr old) who love their video games. The teens like the shooters and the little guy likes to sing his face off while his brothers drum/guitar with Rockband.
However, they all read. Maybe not near as much as their mom, but they all have books they enjoy and will read when grounded from the virtual worlds they'd rather be in.
Minecraft seems to be the big one right now, but I honestly thing it isn't such a bad thing since they have to use their imagination and build everything from scratch there.
Slowly working at getting them out into the backyard more now that we actually have a backyard, but years of cave dwelling in an apartment is hard to break.
Oh... I don't think video games are inherently BAD. Neither are cell phones or iPods. It's using them to wall out the rest of the universe that's bad.
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