I feel our generation would be the first generation to face huge cases of mental disorders due to excessive use of screen use. Our generation is the one that got access to computers and the internet in their 20s. As of this date, almost the entire work in offices has shifted to emails and WhatsApp in almost any organization. There is no division between the office and personal life. The office continues till late at night, and people are forced to check their mobile screens constantly. In fact, it has become a habit of almost all of us to check our mobile screens as the last thing before going to bed and the first thing after getting out of bed. As if that were not enough, big corporations are using AI to design YouTube ads that capture the attention of almost everyone to sell their products. People scroll through the shots for hours. Even kids are getting addicted to the same.
Everybody just wants our clicks and time on the screen. For almost everybody, human beings are just tools to maximize their interest. That is not very surprising. What is more surprising is why people happily become tools in the hands of others? The answer is straightforward. We become vulnerable to exploitation due to our desires. The companies that make attractive videos that are available for free on the internet are not stupid. They know that they can use these attractive videos as a trap. People get used to those videos, desire to watch more and more thad that's where they fix a price for the same, either in the form of a fee or forced advertisement. The forced advertisements wash the brain and lure us to buy the advertised products at a premium. That is how they make a dent in our pocket and get a heavy return.
We create our own weakness and inflict a major loss to our mental and financial health due to our desire to get more and more entertainment. Why do we want a constant dose of entertainment? Because we are constantly dissatisfied. That dissatisfaction within makes us restless. We are constantly in a seeking mode. seeking money, powers, entertainment, and fun. The mobile set in our hand offers entry into an entire universe with just a click of a button. We want to talk instantly, and we even want to see the face of the person we are talking to. It makes us happy to connect with our family and friends instantly. It also makes us happy to connect with the subordinates instantly and get the work done. We feel quite happy and in control of things. But the boss is also equally happy to connect with his subordinates at the touch of a finger. That's how each one of us gets into the trap. The technology that was designed to set human beings free of distance actually creates so much distance that even while sitting side by side, we have a huge distance. We are busy on our mobiles in our own world.
Why do we get caught in the trap? We get lured by the apparently harmless entertainment provided by the screen, unable to see the dangers of addiction. We get lured by the innocent pleasure provided by social media, unable to see its cost on mental health. We get lured to take office in our homes for feeling in control of things, unable to see the danger. We get lured by the concept of marriage, unable to see the consequences. We get lured by the salary while we take up employment, unable to see that we will have to give up our precious freedom. There are traps on every step, and the moment one is caught unaware, one enters into a trap. It takes years and years of struggle to come out therefrom. In fact, most people do not realize that they are in a trap. Just like the frog, who has never gotten out of the well, would never be able to realize that the well is a trap that prevents him from living under the open sky. The limitations of the well appear to be security when one has never experienced the freedom of living under the open sky. Since most people in society celebrate and aspire for the security inside the well, most people living inside the well never aspire for freedom. That's too alien a concept for them. Just a few centuries back, people were happy telling all sorts of stories about the Moon. For some, it was Mama, and for some, it was a symbol of beauty. After we have reached the Moon, it may not look so attractive, but we know the reality. Can walking on the Moon ever be compared to stories about the Moon?
The human mind is one of the most complicated machines. It creates hallucinations of so many different types. People get convinced of the hallucinations created by their own minds. Society hallucinates as a whole. Hitler was not alone when he wanted to eliminate Jews. So many people in Germany supported him in his madness. How come so many people lost their wisdom simultaneously? It is because of mass hallucination. So many people start following some baba till they realize that the baba was a fraud. We have never experienced the freedom of thought. Freedom not to say and believe anything rubbish, rather freedom to see and experience reality, free of our own biases and beliefs. We fail to realize that all the mental stories are traps, and the more widely accepted that story is and the bigger the trap it is. Our fundamental insecurity is "fear of death," and "being alone" is felt as the biggest threat to survival. Evolutionarily, we have gathered together to fight this fear, and this "togetherness" is glued with the "common beliefs". That's why challenging the common beliefs held by society is so difficult. There is a danger of being left alone.
We are so "happy" in the well, "celebrating" our limitations, unable to realize what freedom is. Most of us never consider the possibility of freedom, just like the people of a country that has been enslaved for centuries. Some think, and their minds rebel, but they do not dare to speak out against slavery for fear of being socially ostracized. They have not mustered enough courage to face that "loneliness". Even if someone gathers the courage and attempts to escape the well, family, friends, and everyone around try to pull them back down. However, it is also true that the clearer one sees the "light outside the well", the more difficult it becomes to remain inside the limited well. Many freedom fighters traveled to Europe and realized the value of freedom, which inspired them to sacrifice their lives for our country’s freedom. That's the power of light. Our minds and the mental stories we have woven may try to keep us confined in the darkness, but one ray of light can help us realize the trap. That's why we need to read books written by free souls, meet free-spirited individuals, and meditate to experience that freedom, to at least become aware of the trap. Once we see that ray of light, such "awareness" will have its own magic. It will just be a matter of time before we refuse to stay inside the well. All weaknesses are our own mental stories, and when somebody realizes that even a single individual may shake the strongest of empires.
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