You saw a handsome guy on the street and wanted to tell your girl-friends about it.
Well, you didn't have a cell phone to take a pic,....you didn't have Instagram, or Facebook to share it immediately. You didn't have Twitter to tell your followers. You didn't have followers.
Then you needed to get the word out somehow. Back then, it was pretty much paying for boards on the streets of your city.
It was a slow and committed process with money behind it.
Letting the world know about that cute boy you saw on the streets, suddenly became a task involving more than 10 men. A task that would take hundreds of men-hours to develop and quite a bit of money to back up.
Obviously,........under these circumstances, people were only going to pursue the sharing of information if the material to share was truly worth sharing. Like a scientific discovery, a game changing research, a theater show coming to town, etc. You were only going to share things for which you and the publisher would get some kind of reward (monetary, social recognition, fame, political advantages or whatever)
The lack of technological advancements was preventing humans from being in permanent communication, but at the same time it had its advantage: If you looked for material to read, it was usually enriching and worth reading material, that would some how feed your soul and improve you as an individual.
Unfortunately things have changed,....for the worse.
Sharing my look this morning doesn't cost me a penny,.....so I go ahead and share a selfie. Getting likes doesn't cost anything. On the contrary it acts as a validator of my worthiness. Tweetting something doesn't cost you a penny, in fact the feedback of seeing your tweet shared releases dopamine in your brain which makes you momentarily happier, and would make you pursue that same sensation over and over again. Haven't you noticed how after a post, you keep checking your Facebook to see if you got comments or likes? It happens to everybody. It's an addiction. Where you constantly seek approval. Understandable. It makes you feel better.
The low cost of sharing information has created a world where billions of people are sharing crap all day. Crap that we share, for others to see and re-share.
You can now write any piece about any subject with no need of being an expert and the article may go viral!!! and you can become an instant celebrity with it.
I could now write an article about how stupid polar bears are, without knowing a damn thing about polar bears. The article may hit the jack pot and get 100 re-tweets and 1000 Facebook shares in one day. All of a sudden defenders of animals rights and Greenpeace take notice and start commenting on the article, condemning me as an international demon. Instantly, some "like minded" individual with "advanced" abilities using Wikipedia goes ahead and creates the definition of "La Fiera Humana" documenting the controversy that led to my fame and success. Just a few days later I become a story in the front page of the Washington Post.
The overabundance of crappy information is literally killing our brains. We're exposing ourselves to too much crap on a daily basis. Crap which is highly addictive.
Recognize your addiction
It took me a while to recognize I was sick. But some symptoms started to emerge:
- Too much time on the internet in spite of having already read my usual trust-worthy sites.
- Checking emails constantly and subconsciously every 10 minutes without any thing special going on in my life for which one would expect a special email.
- Opening the phone to take a peek at Facebook or Twitter when it hadn't vibrated. There was nothing new involving me.
- Going to bed too late unnecessarily.
- Insomnia and inability to have a solid 8 hour straight, no-interruption sleep.
- Decreased libido over the constant fear/stress about your own personal future and/or the survival of your specie.
- Decrease in productivity and creativity as an individual.
- Eyes tired and more frequent headaches.
It is important to get your life back. I suddenly realized how stressed out I was and how permanently tired. I didn't study music anymore, let alone write my own songs. My work outs used to be sloppy and lacking energy. My sex drive was not the same.
The internet was silently and slowly killing my manhood and my personality.
Fortunately, there is a cure
- Get rid of your smartphone.
Yes, I know it hurts, but it's really the first liberation step and perhaps the most crucial. Let it go and move back to the simpler, cheaper versions built just for talking. I haven't followed this step yet, but I already uninstalled all social media applications I used in the past. It feels so much better. Soon enough I'll go back to a non-smartphone (should I call it a dumb-phone?), you know the kind of phone that fits comfortably in your pocket.
- Create a routine in your life where you only check your email once or twice a day. I for example do it on my lunch break, and then later in the evening. Outside of those hours, make an effort to focus on your daily responsibilities without the interruption of emails.
- Do lift weights and run, don't skip sessions at the gym. It helps combat stress, it keeps you in better shape. If you are a man it stimulates the production of testosterone and increases your sex drive. No more gym sessions skipped due to reading up crap on the internet. If you are a girl, the gym will shape up your body and your feeling sexier will directly lead to a more active sex life.
- Talk to people. This will be a direct result of the other measures. Without checking social media constantly and without checking emails, the human side of me has seen itself more open to establishing conversations with my co-workers. That has certainly improved my humor at the office and new feelings of camaraderie have been born that make me feel more alive and productive at work.
- Take up that abandoned hobby that the Internet was preventing you from enjoying. I started playing guitar again. I play around with random chords and melodies for hours. I have time to experiment new armories. I have time. That's the key! Getting your time back. I've been learning about how to play harmonica and the type of things you can do with such a noble instrument. And because I have time, I will be buying one in the next few days.
Recovering your hobby will make you feel like your previous self. Take up those abandoned dance classes, write a story, paint a tree! Suddenly creativity starts to flow again. I am now able to write articles like this one for example. It had become a real and frustrating problem to not be able to come up with something mildly fresh and new. Now ideas just come easily and without effort. As it should have always been hadn't I been infected with the Internet addiction.
- Limit your hours of online porn viewing. Seriously. It kills your sexual desires in the long run. If you haven't mastered the art of viewing porn without masturbating, it's even worse as you unleash all that sexual energy with yourself in front of a screen instead of your special one. Destroying that special bond in the long term.
I can imagine what you are thinking now: "This guy is crazy. I can't live and WILL NEVER even attempt to live without my iPhone. But man, this article was good and worth sharing! I'm going to share it to see if I get a couple thumbs up".
You are so addicted that you don't even recognize the addiction in you. You don't even remotely consider uninstalling the social media apps from your smartphone. It would be sacrilegious to not have a smartphone anymore. You are so addicted that you are about to share this post on Facebook, or Twitter, or Read-it or ...or....or.
Please don't!!! I beg you!! DO NOT SHARE THIS CRAP. Just take the advice and I hope it makes a contribution in curing your addiction. Get your hormones back. Get your life back.
You're welcome.
Escrito por "La Fiera Humana" el Domingo 4 de Mayo del 2014.
