Are We Really Living Anymore?

The following article will not be based on factual evidence, testaments, or specific points of view, but on humanity's most yearned ancient ability: communication—an ability being rewritten in front of our eyes. As the twenty-first century reaches its first quarter mark, a glance back just twenty-five years makes life seem outlandish, as if a disease has infested the years to come. The internet and social media have changed the ways of communication, interacting, and living—for better and for worse. 

While social media and the internet have allowed humanity to advance and create truly magical pieces of innovation, it has killed the concept of living. By now, we are all accustomed to using technology, but as AI rises and social media dominates the forefront of our lives, tasks have never been easier. Imagine a modern world without technology or social media: what would it look like? These ideas seem so far-fetched, but the biggest issue might be people who use them, not technology itself.

Photographer Eric Pickersgill clearly captured this problem in his series Removed. Filled with photos of everyday events, from scenes such as a family at the dinner table, kids sitting on a couch, and people taking photos, there is one key difference: no phones. What remains are people staring at a blank space. These blank and lifeless images make us ask the question: are phones filling the void, or creating it?

Pickersgill, Eric. Removed. Eric Pickersgill Studio

The answer seems blatantly one-sided. Yes, someone could list all the ways a phone fills that gaping hole; in some ways, they do, but they are also the very creators of the darkness itself. The deeper issue is that people have forgotten how to truly live and connect: to share a meal without constant reference to a viral video or recent news; to step into the green outdoors without the urge to take a photo every waking step; and to meet with people not over a screen, but face to face. This doesn't even mention the ever-concerning fact that humans compare themselves to curated lives online—a constant plane of self-measurement that erodes our own contentment.

Memory Lane Bible. (n.d.). A proper dinner

If we look at photos from those twenty-five years ago, the dinner table and life itself seem so outlandish by today's standards: so lively, so filled with color, and so full of heart and warmth. These feelings seem to have slowly drifted away from our modern world. The comparisons are stark. Back then, people were not staring into a void but into each other's eyes and the world around them. This is how humans are meant to live, not an endless repetition of bland and everlasting boredom that fills us up with gluttony and laziness and consumes us like a disease deadlier than the plague.

If we don't live, we don't have stories to tell, and we are spending way too much time telling others' stories instead of creating our own. So what does it mean to live? It means starting to enjoy what you have and not comparing yourself to others; starting to value this planet and the people who share it with you; and putting down a device and choosing presence over distraction. The stark difference between then and now is evident in how we spend our time and the moments we choose to hold. As Confucius famously said, “We have two lives, and the second begins when we realize we only have one.” Opinion articles are meant to persuade, but all I ask is that you take a moment to observe the world not through the lens of a camera, but through your own eyes—to break the habits that prevent you from truly living. Remember, our time here is brief, so make it real.