We scroll past them daily, countless faces shimmering in backlit feeds – ephemeral snapshots of curated existences. We engage with their laughter and tears in the pixelated theater of our own devices. Yet, have we lost that crucial thread woven centuries ago, a thread connecting us through genuine eye contact? Is staring at screen so deeply ingrained within youth culture that we neglect one of the most primal ways we truly communicate?
The irony isn’t missed: technology purports to connect us more than ever before, yet it simultaneously isolates. Our eyes drift inward, trapped by the lure of personalized narratives scrolling endlessly before us. Ironically, this endless scrolling can make those moments we choose to unplug even more daunting — leaving us unprepared for the nuanced dance of actual conversation facilitated by our fellow human’s expressions and reactions.
Filmmakers understand this shift consciously; remember Walter Murch saying, “In a quiet moment with somebody, silence is good. Because people always look at everything.” It sounds like a quaint notion in our plugged-in decade, to simply see and hear someone else fully before formulating a response. But this deliberate engagement is increasingly rare – even with loved ones. Have you gone an evening without reaching for Snapchat just for that initial “Hey I see him!” verification? Our relationships, then, are mediated by the digital – a curated version relayed through carefully chosen photos and pre-determined emojis to convey our feelings before the real conversation ever begins.
And what about the lost art of reading expressions? Can you decipher joy, insecurity of fear from a tilted screen filter? Does laughter translated through text speak carry the same weight as seeing someone’s lips move in delight, or recognizing the tremble within their voice during a confession? These subtle shifts in human behaviour – those that take place outside the pixelated frames we build for ourselves – provide vital clues to understanding the emotions hidden Beneath. We become reliant on emoji-based summaries of a nuanced reality, reducing true communication to simplistic representations.
If we’re so hyper-connected online, then why this aching emptiness where personal connection should feel full? The answer likely lies somewhere between genuine experiences and the fabricated digital realms: Perhaps it’s time we challenge our default setting of constant screen interaction and choose something more potent instead – a shared look that lingers, a silent moment felt between words in real space. To rediscover the power of simply seeing one another, without filters or scripts, to let silence breathe within our dialogue before launching boldly into the abyss.