A bad use of the automatisms of thought, feelings and gestures prevents us from living an authentic life. Knowing how to stop and appreciate beauty are two paths we can take to combat this senseless mechanism.
Last update: December 20, 2020
The way computers and the brain process information has often been compared. The two systems have multiple types of memory for storing information and specific areas for their use. The digital age itself - the age of technology - has led us to adopt some terms from the computing world to refer to how the brain works. We can therefore say that the human being has entered the logic of automation.
Not only did he enter it, but he allowed himself to be overwhelmed. What does this mean? First with commercialism, then with industrialization and more recently with the digital age, we have ended up mechanizing, simplifying and repeating the processes so many times, that most have become routine. The clock dictates the conditions and we respond like machines.
At the heart of this transformation is the idea of ​​time. It is one of the realities that has changed the most over the years, essentially becoming the axis of automation. The refrain of man is too similar, at times, to that of a machine: produce more and in less time. Making the most of production times. Being faster in everything and being masters of time, what some call "effectiveness" or "efficiency", two values ​​highly esteemed today.
“No computer has ever been designed to be aware of what it is doing; but most of the time, neither are we. "
– Marvin Minsky –
The invasion of free time
One of the purposes of technology was to be to free man. Make sure he doesn't have to spend too much time on mechanical tasks and thus have more free time.
But the digital era itself designed spaces and devices that, in one way or another, they ended up with invade even our moments of rest and free time.
First, the mass media broke into our society as forms of entertainment and facilitators for the circulation of information. Radio, cinema, the first means of communication were not omnipresent. Instead, television has ushered in another culture. He has turned many of us into passive consumers of entertainment.
With the digital age, the colonization of free time has been consolidated and with it the automation of the human being. We do not see reality through a screen, but we can interact with it in a virtual way, anytime, anywhere.
There are many hours of our free time dedicated to social networks or wandering in cyberspace. The free time itself is preformatted. A double standard encourages and condemns addictions. Industry, legal and illegal, moves an impressive mountain of money thanks to our "free" time.
Against automation, break and beauty
We have become impatient, less able to engage in realities that require facing difficulties and contradictions. Letting processes flow, dealing with and resolving conflicts, goes against automation itself.
What matters now is to simplify and get visible results as quickly as possible. This new way of reacting to reality is the effect of this passion for immediacy, speed and the desire to fill time with anything.
The immediate produces pleasures and forms of happiness that are often fleeting. This way of living life easily leads us to feel anxious. It is as if we "gulp down" the experiences without savoring them. We increase the number of experiences at the expense of quality. Stopping and slowing down is a necessary condition to overcome automation, or the frantic consumption of experiences.
Beauty is one of the most rewarding experiences in life. Discovering the harmony that is hidden behind a word, a gesture, an idea, a person, fills us with joy. The beauty, however, is not immediately visible. Quite the opposite. Authentic beauty takes time to manifest. And it has immense power: it is full of life.
Automation is reflected in our habits and gestures that we repeat incessantly. Words, ideas, actions, ways of doing. The downside is that it deprives us of genuine and profound experiences.
At the same time, it denies the possibility of looking at reality from another angle. It forces us to act without thinking or feeling intensely and, in the end, it depresses or anguishes us.
