Secondhand lives

When Michael Crichton wrote these words in 1988 in Travels, it might have seemed like a niche opinion. It certainly doesn’t come across as prophetic. And, given he is a medical doctor, writer and lover of scientific narratives, he’s not exactly anti-technology. He just saw how one such technology, TV, had started warping our thoughts:

My own sense is that the acquisition of self knowledge has become more difficult by the modern world. More and more human beings live in vast urban environments, surrounded by other human beings and the creations of human beings. The natural world, the traditional source of self-interest, is increasingly absent.

Furthermore, within the last century, we have come to live increasingly in a compelling world defined by electronic media.

These media have evolved at a pace that is utterly alien to our true natures. It is bewildering to live in a world of ten-second spots, each one urging us to buy something, to do something, or to think something. Human beings in the past were not so assaulted. And, I think that this constant assault has made us pliable in a certain unhealthy way. Cut off from direct experience, cut off from our own feelings and sometimes our own sensations. We are only too ready to adopt a viewpoint or perspective that is handed to us. And is not our own.

I was reading his book a few weeks ago and it felt like something he could’ve written today. The only difference is the state of technology assaults is much worse than he could have ever imagined: advertisements, breaking news, chat notifications, tweets, stories, reels, iPhone pings in our pockets…the list is endless.

The ten-second assaults now are leading to something I’m calling secondhand lives. We’re living not our lives, but someone else’s – ten seconds at a time.

All that to say, I’m going to take a bit of a break: vacation calls. Time for some direct experiences.