The Problem of Two Worlds
It has been several decades since the Digital World started its existence. The amount of applications, services, and devices has been growing exponentially ever since. In the 2020s you cannot imagine a person without a smartphone, someone who is not familiar with the Internet, or who is using zero digital services.
We’re surrounded by Digital Information in every aspect of our lives: work-related services, websites, applications, email, messengers, media content, music, videos, and books — and this list is very far from being exhaustive.
Now, what’s the problem, actually?
To keep track of all that ever-growing load of incoming information and not lose your mind — that’s the challenge. And this challenge did not actually exist in our parents’ days. Now you have a multitude of services and applications. And every single one of them is with its own set of rules, user interfaces, ways to interact, logic, and content representation. And a whole new level of meta-complexity is introduced every new several years.
And if previously running a paper planner or a notebook was a necessity for some exclusive standout people, now it becomes a must-have skill for every single city-based person in the modern world.
Think again, the amount of stuff you have to deal with is outrageous:
- Where is my password for this service?
- When should I meet Greg next week? Did I put it on the calendar?
- How to get to the ancient site during my vacation in a foreign country — I remember I’d seen the route somewhere in the Maps app…
- And where are my electronic tickets by the way?
- Oh, and what exactly do I need to pack for this trip overall? I probably need a list…
- I remember I’ve seen a recipe for this awesome duck filled with apples — what was this website again?
- My boss wants a report from me every week with the completed activities and projects — looks like I need to dig through the emails, documents, and calendars for the past week to resurrect the picture in my head, right?
You got the idea.
The world we’re living in “suddenly” became dual — physical and virtual. And both worlds, whether you want it or not, are connected. And what’s more interesting — equally important.
What do you think your phone and PC screens are? They are nothing less than portals between those physical and digital worlds. They’re windows from this Physical World to the Second — digital — World.
No surprise humanity is chasing higher resolutions (4K and 8K screens) and screen refresh rates (120Hz in your phone is dull already) — this 2nd World is so important, you definitely need to be able to see what’s in there clearly. You want to blend this border as much as possible and immerse yourself in there.
Because what’s behind the screen is so interesting! A representation of this digital part of the world we’re living in, this 2nd World — it cannot be physically touched, it can actually be seen only through those Windows and nothing else! It was created in our heads and factually lives only in our heads.
But these 2 worlds are equally important nowadays.
That leads to a very simple logical conclusion: if you keep your stuff in order in your physical world, it is equally important to keep it in the same way in your digital part of life.
A lot of mental, metaphysical, esoteric, and other practices and schools claim that the laws and approaches applicable to your body are equally applicable to all of its extensions: your clothes, your car, the spaces you’re in, apartments, etc..
This thing is very similar.
Now you may say, “How can you compare those 2 things, this does not withstand a simple hit! If something happens to you in the physical world, you actually can feel it, this impacts your life — you can actually die! But what’s the big deal if some excel sheets are cluttered or if my notes reside in 3 different applications?”
Ok, but what about if your whole photo library disappears (wedding photos included)? Or if your access to your banking applications is gone? Or your Facebook profile has been hacked and stolen? Someone would say it’s a little death 🙂
That said, obviously, we cannot underestimate what’s happening in our Second World.
Let’s summarize.
- We are dealing with digital information daily.
- This Digital World is actually still very new to us.
- The problems of it are not something previous generations have ever dealt with.
- Meanwhile, as we’ve been digitalizing our life rapidly, both worlds, Digital and Physical have become equally complex and important.
- While all of the digital stuff was created to be helpful, this may become challenging to get on top of all the loads of stuff falling at us every day in this 2nd World.
- Technology evolves very quickly, and there will be a learning curve associated with new devices, software, and applications, which makes it even more challenging to keep up with the latest tools and best practices.
Ok, what’s the solution?
Broad question — broad answer. I think, we need a framework.
We need some standard approach towards all this and — very important! — a certain level of self-discipline to manage through this.
It’s not like 5-days-at-the-gym-every-visit-planned-according-to-the-program discipline, but maybe 2-days-at-the-gym only — that sort of discipline.
But for sure no “I’ll skip the gym this week” allowed.
You need a Framework! A system, not an isolated measure or activity.
There are certain levels you need to look at. The next article will give some overview. Let’s call it a Framework for Digital Sanity how i see it :)
