Sunday Thoughts: The World Through Our Screens

Can you remember…? No… but I have the picture!

Oh dear, how unfortunate is not remembering a piece by Picasso? Or the Mona Lisa at the Louvre? The Sahara Desert or simply a local dancing couple on the streets of South America… when you WERE THERE to witness it? But of course, the perfect shot was more important at the time. It was more important to show your followers on Instagram or your family on Facebook than to allow yourself to actually see it with your own eyes, enjoy it and remember it.

But this doesn’t only happen when we visit special places (that we travelled all over the world to see “with our own eyes”), it is also happening on a daily basis. Our kids grow and so do our parents and we are still looking down at our phones at family reunions.

I get it though, we want to capture every moment, but my question is… isn’t it better to actually LIVE it? Living the moment is also “forever”, why capturing it with our phones if we can capture it with our own memories?

I have a friend who is also part of the I-refuse-to-be-on-social-media-club and I will forever be grateful for what he said to me before we left on a long trip some time ago. His words were clear – “Enjoy your trip, be safe and don’t forget to take pictures with your eyes, it is not all about Facebook!”.

I went to the Kunst Historisches Museum some weeks ago, Bruegel’s exhibition was on and my dad and I definitely didn’t want to miss this one. The whole collection was great, I know because I managed to see some of the pieces through a bunch of brand new phones and cameras racking up in front of the paintings. I mean, was that really necessary?

I must admit I sometimes find the whole “finding the perfect shot” a bit extreme and this situation was a great example. Extremes are never good. They can be dangerous. In fact, taking anything to an extreme could alter your perception of reality. Extremes are not meant to be played with, and I genuinely believe we are grazing it.

I have a question for you… if you were to choose how to watch back into your memories in 10 years’ time, what would you go for? A 16:9 screen? Or a 360° movie?

Don’t bother, I know your answer already!

DEUTSCH

Hier, schau dir mal mein Album von unserem letzten Trip an! Es sind nur tausend Fotos, also scroll einfach durch… Oder schau auf Instagram und Facebook nach.

Wenn ich mit Freunden an gemeinsame Momente denke, ist diese Erinnerung die wir gemeinsam teilen, eine innige Verbindung. Nur wir erinnern uns an all die unglaublichen Momente, weil nur wir dabei waren – nicht fremde Menschen auf den sozialen Kanälen.

Wenn man heute in Wien die Ausstellung von Bruegel im Kunsthistorischen Museum sehen möchte, empfehle ich ein kleines Stockerl mitzunehmen. Es gibt nur wenige Momente in denen man die Gemälde nicht nur durch ein fremdes Smartphone sehen kann. Die Ausstellung war großartig, aber hätte ich ein paar Mal eine Möglichkeit gehabt, über den Handy-Auflauf drüber zu sehen, hätte es mir wahrscheinlich noch besser gefallen.

Ich frage mich, was macht ihr eigentlich mit den unzählichen Fotos auf euren Smartphones? Lasst das Handy doch mal in eurer Tasche und entdeckt das Leben mit euren Augen … und nicht durch einen Screen.