In virtual reality there are no time or space;
Everything the digital world has to offer is presented trough the single layer of the screen, that makes no distinction to what is real and what is not. I was reading a little pamphlet by Derrick de Kerckhove last week, “Interfaccia del Linguaggio, dei Media, della Mente” was its title. you can read it by clicking here.
It made me reflect on how we are constantly moving towards a single-layered reality in our lives. That is to say, we are shaping our reality from multi dimensional (emotions, spirit, physic, mental) to single-layered (interactive and 3D: visual and experiential).
The point is, it is really important to create a consciousness about our day-to-day use of technology, and I’m suggesting you to do this, by first understanding the way you perceive technology in your life. Let’s take PCs for example: they are everywhere these days, right?. Just like, Blackberries, iPhones, iPads, netbooks, or any other digital device.
Have you ever thought about the way you perceive their existence? Would it be different if you wouldn’t possess a certain item? Think about it for a moment. You are probably going to answer something like “I could never imagine a life without computers anymore!”or maybe “it would make no difference” or maybe “well, they can be useful sometimes”, etc
Well, to a certain extent, technology is just simplifying your life. The same goes for using a cell phone to send a message to someone, update your status and news on your twitter or facebook account. This is all good. Really good.
Let me ask you another question though.
“Is the technology making your life easier, or is it just making it more cluttered and hard to manage?” The downsides of technology are: accounts, passwords to remember, backups needed, storing, keeping files organised, upgrading your hardware and software..
This is the real clutter that computers create in our lives. And most of it, is just a mental clutter. We finally end up trying to organize abstract things: songs, digital files… this stuff is not material at all, an yet is creating more clutter than the real item itself. Isn’t that amazing?
Digital reality is mental reality: they work on the same dimension of our being humans. If digital reality creates some clutter, we automatically find ourselves stuck in… mental clutter. That is why control and balance are required to preserve our vital order and productivity. Finding an equilibrium is important to preserve our human nature. That’s why downshifting every now and then or living a minimalist lifestyle can work wonders for ourselves and who we’re meant to be on this planet.