Fear of Missing Out

It's not a new idea that people born in the times since, or just before the digital revolution have different brains than our predecessors. We lean towards stimulation, towards a certain variability in life. We fiend for the newest, the latest, and are constantly seeking the next great thing.

Concepts like FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) have developed as a byproduct. When there's so much in the world to consume and enjoy, why settle for anything less than the best?

This sounds great. But it's imaginary-- just fiction. The best is usually cultivated via an Instagram filter, Photoshop, blatant lying, or exaggeration.

The public's attention has recently focused on the consequences of being in front of screens all day. Perhaps the attention deficit crisis does have implications for our day to day - we seem to have more stuff, but enjoy it less. Our desensitized brains clam up at the thought of anything lengthy - a 3-hour movie, waiting for that next bonus, a lifetime commitment. These things are scary because it limits our options.

What's worse is the lack of contentment it breeds. As the saying goes, you're comparing your practice footage to someone's highlight reel. This comparison happening dozens or hundreds of times a day can't be good for your mental health.

Some critics'll say the benefits outweigh the negatives, and there is some truth to that. Name another time in history that the entire human population was this connected. Instead of being limited to the people and knowledge of your locality, we have unprecedented access to everything and anyone-- if you try hard enough.

What I'd like to argue is that elements of both are needed to optimize our living, but we as a collective society should slow down.