“We live in a world where everyone has a camera in their pocket and can take photos or videos of whatever goes on around them, with no worries about needing special lights or developing film,” Kirk McElhearn writes for Kirkville. “These images can be saved or shared instantly. But do we need all these photos and videos? We often see people walking around points of interest taking photos, viewing landmarks through a lens, rather than through their own eyes.”
“Are we all Zeligs of our own lives, wishing to prove our existence by demonstrating where we have been, and what important events we have attended? Do we need these visual reminders of what we have done, what we have seen, who we have been with to construct our personas?” McElhearn asks. “How will people feel in 20 or 30 years when they look back at the selfies they took with transient friends and brief acquaintances, and try to figure out where they were, and who those people were?”
“Perhaps it’s time to stop taking photos, to experience events through one’s eyes and ears, rather than through a lens and screen,” McElhearn writes. “While memories of those events won’t be as sharp, they may be more potent. In a world where people are trying to hold on to memories of everything, maybe the strongest memories are the ones we can’t capture.”
Read more in the full article – recommended – here.
MacDailyNews Take: As we wrote in December 2013:
Over the past year or so, we’ve taken to NOT recording our childrens’ dance recitals, skiing trips, concerts, and everything else precisely because we found that we couldn’t really remember very well what happened [studies prove this phenomenon]. There’s a time and a place to record video and shoot stills, but it’s definitely not all the time.
We’ve gone back to experiencing the moment with our organic hardware instead of holding an iPhone between our eyeballs and life.
You should, too.
SEE ALSO:
Study: People who take pictures of art remember less about the works than those who don’t – December 18, 2013
