Susan DeMersseman shares why it’s necessary to put down the smartphone and experience the natural world.
I sometimes see a depiction of nature or of a fellow human being that is so remarkable that I am in awe. For a moment I pause in that recognition and in that wonder. But now, as I savor the experience, it is often cut short by the thought that maybe that’s AI. So, the specialness I got to feel for a moment is interrupted.
Now some of the awe comes from amazement regarding computers rather than from human beings and nature. Awe has been partly stolen, hijacked into the digital realm. Too bad.
I still get to experience awe, but now there is often a lingering shadow. It’s harder. There are pictures of sunsets that take my breath away. Some may be awe-worthy, but now there is the question that can ruin a tender moment. I hear people use the term “awesome” pretty loosely, often along with “I’m obsessed with this, it’s awesome. “Seems to be generational.
There are still many things that are truly awe-inspiring from sources that are real, but that requires more direct experience rather than through any media.
The theft of awe can be mitigated by more connections with real humans and real natural settings. Waiting for us beyond our computers is the awesomeness of human beings and the natural world.