Which would you rather be, a person missing out on things or the one actually getting left behind, for good.
That’s the paradox of today’s culture, particularly of the younger ones.
In a world that’s constantly changing in a pace we have never experienced before, aggravated by social media that’s making us more anxious, we are incessantly coaxed to participate in the ever-growing noise. Making sure we won’t have time to deeply ponder if what we’re diving ourselves into actually adds value and meaning to our lives.
For sure, this expanding digital world has given us a whole new set of possibilities and unlimited potential in the exchange of ideas and goods, its benefits greatly outweighs all the harms, both realized and latent, and the pre-internet world order combined. This mega tool of our species is currently re-shaping the landscape of human civilization as we know it.
But in the vastness of this new territory, many are drowned in over information or lost in the rabbit hole of content. Social trends, fueled by ads, drive our attention leaving us exhausted to even think what’s for dinner.
You Become What You Pay Attention To
We should perhaps reconsider the phrases ‘Paying Attention and Spending Time’
Because that is exactly what it is. We literally pay our attention in exchange of some new information that our brain could process, be it important or some random cat videos. And we Spend our time thinking it’s unlimited, although we absolutely know it isn’t.
The point is, in the trade-off of our attention for information, we also seem to forget that we are giving away our time. That’s time lost and irredeemable. Which is fine if you’re paying attention for some new skill that you can use to leverage your life. That’s the reason why skilled professionals are highly paid, because they have invested perhaps a small amount of fortune in the process of acquiring such skills, but even more so, they are compensated for their expertise on that field. That’s equivalent to more production in less time.
The Cost of Joining the Noise Bandwagon
Let’s remember that the fear of missing out is not necessarily directly caused by social media, but rather a human social feature that we have that has helped us to adapt to changing environments, the need to belong and to be relevant. Perhaps it’s our subconsciousness’ need for meaning and purpose. The need to contribute to society through expressing of oneself and to bond with other fellow human beings.
The problem is that we don’t realize enough that the internet is merely a tool to enrich our lives. To learn, to build, to share, to support and all the other stuff that we could do to improve our lives.
Many end up contributing to the noise of this digital realm. Trading your dignified self for some stupid looking character that simply becomes entertainment to the world. You also risk of losing the capacity for critical thinking and decision making, both of which determine the overall course of your life. You’re literally allowing your brain to shrink over time.
Unconsciously joining the bandwagon in the digital world has real-world consequences. Let us not allow ourselves to trade our skill sets for some fleeting shots of dopamine. Our future selves need competence and value.
All these time could be very well spent in creating real value for your network which would give you real world leverage.
Let us all spend our time wisely and pay our attention to the right ones.
