Something happened between the private journal we kept locked in our drawer and the portable video camera. For example, in June 2001 I led a group of Dartmouth alumni on a cruise to see a total solar eclipse in Africa. On board were a crowd of “eclipse groupies”, people who go around the world chasing eclipses. Once you see one you can understand why. A total solar eclipse is a deeply moving experience that awakens a primal connection with nature, linking us to something bigger and truly awesome about the world. It needs total commitment and focus of all senses. Yet, as totality approached, the ship’s deck was a sea of cameras and tripods, as dozens of people prepared to photograph and videotape the four-minute- -long event.
Instead of fully engaging with this most spectacular natural phenomenon, people chose to look at it from behind their cameras. I was shocked. There were professional photographers onboard and they were going to sell/give pictures away. But people wanted to take their pictures and videos anyway, even if they weren’t going to be half as good. The gadget is the eye through which they choose to see reality. What cellphones plus social media have done is to make the archiving and the sharing of images amazingly easy and efficient. The reach is much wider and the gratification (how many “likes” a photo or video gets) is quantitative. Lives become a shared social event.
Now, there is a side of this that is fine, of course. We celebrate meaningful moments and want to share with those we care about. The problem starts when we stop fully participating in the moment because we have this urge to record it.
Without trying to sound too nostalgic (but sounding), there is nothing like eye-to-eye contact or the sharing of an experience through the real act of engaging in a conversation with friends and family. The gadgets are awesome, of course. But they should not define the way we live – only complement it.
(Adapted from: GLEISER, M. Should We Live Life, Or Capture It? In NPR, 2014. Accessed on: http://www.npr.org/blogs/13.7/2014/ 10/01/352915256/should-we-live-life-or-capture-it?utmsource=facebook.com&utmmedium=social&utmcampaign=npr& utmterm= nprnews&utmcontent=202401. Accessed on: Oct. 1st. 2014.)
According to the text, a total solar eclipse is an event that
