This is the lighter part of this two-part piece Polarisation and my dissection of the Netflix documentary 'The Social Dilemma'.
Our brains are so old, ancient even, in comparison to how intelligent technology and processing software has become.
I think to all the story ideas I have ever conjured up and narrative segments that I’ve written and only one instance comes to mind where I have included a mobile phone in my story.
In the Netflix docudrama ‘The Social Dilemma’, Nina Simone’s I Put A Spell On You plays over the part of the film where the teenage boy falls into a deep, zombie-eyed funk, scrolling and scrolling, pouring over his ex-girlfriend’s social media feed. The effect was brash and sharp.
As a Gen Z-er, what’s my argument here? My social life - and work life now - revolves around my responsiveness to my phone, in a constant orbit of efficiency. I ‘win’ by seeing emails that have come in within the last ten minutes. That is a win because I can respond quicker and therefore have a greater chance of being given a new project.
For me, it is a game of balance. In my second year of university, I wrote an article on nature deficit disorder. The task was to write on a socially-minded topic and that was the first thing that came to mind. Despite being an individual who largely prefers indoors to outdoors activities, I have an investment in the benefits that particularly young kids get from playing and exploring outside. Social skills, problem solving, brain functions that give them such a valuable boost in their education past primary school.
I am 21 and I go for walks. When I am feeling in the mood to, when I want peace of mind in the fresh air I will go for a walk around my local village. And for me, that’s a win. I have a tangible tie to an anti-technological, positive experience.
I do not feel a victim of my phone. My creativity and my writing and my peace of mind come from elsewhere. These details equip me with the sanity and belief that I have greater power over what my social media platforms persuade me to think and see and feel. To a certain and stubborn degree, I feel a disconnect to the young people showed in 'The Social Dilemma' who are utterly bound by the will of their phone. It is my desire to always possess this individualism as proof of being able to manage and succeed with a really old brain against the might of ever-advancing technology.
However against me is an army of the undead who cannot and will not put their phone down, organise a plan without that aid, that only fairly recent appendage. And thus, the dawn of the true Gen Z-ers emerge beyond the death of Vine and innocent in having been too young to vote for Brexit. It truly is the end of days.
(For now, or at least until the second part).
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