Sometimes typing can free the mind. Sometimes talking out loud, even when directed at no one can free the mind. Taking yourself out of your comfort zone to a new location can also feel like it can free yourself. Which leads me to question: what do we feel as though we are being freed from? Some sort of stress? A constant cortisol drip from within reminding us every second about the daily stressors we face? Some sort of imaginary expectations we have set for ourselves about what we think others look for in us? Sadly, I do not have the answer for you, nor do I think I ever will.
I have more questions, but rather than taking a rather Socrates-esque approach to getting my point across I’d like to discuss my opinions. From there you will either agree or you will be questioning things along the way with me, which is the ultimate goal. To ask questions with a genuine curiosity into what it means to be free in today’s age.
We are the generation that grew up with the internet, so we are the first generation to be faced with the consequences of sacrificing privacy for indulgence. The generation that grew up with the first generation computers learned to utilize them, and with that came advancement. Now what we do with these advancements is funded by a capitalist society. Meaning that business and ultimately profit is the deciding factor on which direction we took, and will take it moving forward. I iterate these points because I feel as the next generation of humans we are constantly putting tiny tidbits of our lives online in what feels like a safe manner. But if someone, malicious or not were to find all of these tidbits and piece them together and create a single location, they may know a lot of information about us. They can then market product at us in a very targeted manner. With all of the targeted ads piling up it feels like every time we get online we feel bombarded with a personalized experience. Every app we get on is custom tailored for our “experience”. These online stores then transfer into the physical world by allowing data scientists to connect with marketing teams to design the perfect store layouts, perfect placements of advertising, and more of a custom tailored “experience” for the average person.
You’ve probably noticed where I’m going with this and no, you don’t need to get out your tinfoil hat to continue with me here. This isn’t conspiracy, this is everyday knowledge to us now. We not only know this to be obvious, but we expect it, we even embrace it in some scenarios. I continue to put “experience” in quotations because that’s exactly what I fear it is for our generation. The world is transitioning away from natural moments and our generation is growing ever-so accustomed to tailored “experiences”. Every embrace of these moments distances ourselves from the natural world and welcomes the incoming artificial experience of living.
Now I say the word artificial with hesitation too. I don’t necessarily want this to be misconstrued as negative because this can be positive as well. How you choose to view it is your own opinion. Think of how amazing cities have become. Think of how convenient life has become with this as well. The technology to walk into a store and walkout with your product without every stopping at a cash register? It just scans your online account by the phone in your pocket and knows what you’ve left the store with. These can all be amazing things that could really benefit mankind if we continue to improve and innovate off this.
After setting the scene, perhaps it does feel rather apparent why I long for freedom. Perhaps I am not physically being freed from certain restrictions in life but maybe I am being freed mentally from an artificial experience custom tailored to me and escaping to my own natural thoughts and ideas. I can’t be the only one who enjoys this. This has to be happening to our generation as a whole. Whether they know it or not and whether they realize how freeing escaping can be or not, they still experience it in certain moments. There are too many variables at play to really denounce a cause and effect but I at least hope I opened your mind a little as I sort it out for myself in the process.