Half Human, Half Phone: If I Was A Hybrid, I’d Be A Mermaid
In the last few days, multiple elders have expressed to me their fear about the ways that technology is taking over the lives of their children and grandchildren. From them, I got a sense that things are out of control, a runaway train heading for disaster.
“My grandson is half human, half phone,” a woman lamented at a meeting last week. “I’m not from this world,” she continued, “this world that’s so full of devices and so little eye contact.”
A woman sitting next to us on the plane shared her sadness about how unhappy her grown son seemed to be, even though he had everything — all the material comforts that a human could ask for. She blamed it on the phone, the lack of human connection and meaning in her son’s life.
“You need to come to the island,” she told him, referring to his homeland of Puerto Rico, “and see how people are suffering after the earthquakes. And yet, they find joy in helping one another, sharing what little they have.”
I feel the same as they do, bemoaning the direction of my fellow humans and our shared society. It makes me think about my father. He had strong opinions about many of our society’s habits: television, major league sports, binge eating on fast food that holds little nutritional value. He seemed like a zealot to me then; I just wanted to watch Dawson’s Creek and eat McDonald’s like my friends! But now I feel a deep kinship…
