The Call of Nature

I remember the good old days when a mobile phone was used to make a call. In the early 90’s, my Dad had a phone which needed its own briefcase battery pack which made it more inconvenient than finding an actual public phone box. To call it a mobile phone was stretching the laws of trading standards somewhat, as you could only use it within a certain range, which meant that he could only get a strong signal when he was sitting in the living room! But still, as phones started to hit the masses, they were not expected to do any more than a simple phone call. Yes, some people had figured out how to make sense of the small letters which appeared above every number on the key pad, but above all, they were used as a phone.

Now, phones don’t only call, they text, send emails, download music, keep thousands of friends waiting on the edge of their seats until you post your latest update and of course, they take photographs of a plate of food, this is a bit of a tangent here, but I have never been interested in what other people are about to eat for their evening meal.

Our modern lives are dominated by a tiny flat screen which we keep in our pockets. It goes with us everywhere and I find it so sad when I see a couple at dinner who instead of talking to each other or maybe taking in the environment around them, they are absolutely absorbed by their mobile phones. Even worse than this, is when I see a couple out with young children and the child is transfixed by the flashing blue light of a tablet screen given by their parents to keep them “entertained” whilst the adults check their social media! Try doing this in a restaurant in France and you’d probably end up with a baguette through the screen!!!!!!

What all of these apps, websites and social media platforms are doing, is detaching us even further from what we are as human beings. We are not designed to observe a distorted view of life through a screen, we are designed to go outside and experience the sights and sounds of the natural world. Just by venturing into nature can put so much of life into perspective. I like to go outside, sit down and observe, I leave my phone inside and I’m free from the distractions of the modern world and it’s not long before I start to see the wonder of nature at work. Birds darting from tree to ground, insects burrowing through the grass and squirrels leaping effortlessly from branch to branch. It always makes me realise that there is a complete other world which exists outside of our modern digital one. If we were stripped of all of our technology, would we know how to forage for food, build shelter and care for our families, I fear not.

Now I’m not saying that we should skip all of our worldly possessions and go live in a bush, but limiting our dependency on technology, will bring us more in tune with how we are meant to be as human beings.

As human beings, we are not meant to have everything done for us, we are hardwired to solve problems, socially interact and provide for our families all by ourselves. I feel that as technology replaces these primal instincts it is also contributing to these record high levels of depression which so many people are experiencing, and even more alarmingly, it is contributing to the record high levels of depression among children and young adults.

So, let’s turn off our social media, resist taking a photo of a sticky toffee pudding and get outside, and experience what Mother Nature has to offer.

By George Barnes