We're a society that explores things — that tries things out. Some things cost a lot, some things are cheap, and some things seem to be free.
Tucked into many of the things we use and buy are transaction costs — hidden costs that are added on. Whether it's putting gas in the car (which results in taxes and pollution) or using a credit card (higher prices and interest fees), there are extra costs to our choices. Even surfing the Internet has costs, though most of them are hidden — tracking-cookies let corporations remember our choices, credit cards are stolen, and we can know more about a famous person than our neighbor. These costs might not stop us from doing these things, but they're part of the process.
The phrase "Nickel and diming" has its roots in the small coins we use. If you are being nickel and dimed then someone is continually charging you small amounts, and hoping those small charges don't scare you off. The trick is to keep you distracted enough, and interested enough, that you keep on paying rather than deciding to do something else.
The biggest new use of people's time revolves around screens of all types: TVs, computers, Playstations and phones. Entertainment is a focal point of many people's lives, and our screens are ways to both relax and stay informed. Certainly no previous generation can claim the widespread access to information and entertainment that we do.
But the downside of endless entertainment and information is that we are staying still — and this has unfortunate downsides for both our society, and for us personally.
The time we spend in front of our screens may be great for snack food companies, Hollywood and a quick laugh, but it's time lost from important pursuits, including relationships, health, and personal projects.
Long before there were Lady Gaga videos, friends have been sharing time, and their lives. While no family is perfect, and no friendship is easy, spending time in community and helping others are at the core of fulfilled lives. Sure, it can be fun to see what the stars are wearing, but real relationships and real smiles are what help us grow and bring us joy. If you're looking at a screen instead of the person next to you then from their perspective you're not really with them — you're just in the same room. Younger people tend to be more used to this, but that doesn't make it good. There are lots of things that people get used to that aren't good for us.
Lately we're hearing about the wave of Diabetes that is hitting both our society and people we know. Human bodies are amazing — able to withstand physical trauma and to heal from injuries. What our bodies aren't used to is endless sitting around and eating. We need our vertical time to feel good and to be healthy!
We also nickel and dime our time is by missing opportunities to grow and develop. It doesn't matter how many music videos we watch — *they* will not make us musicians or dancers or artists — only *we* can do that.
It's been said that our society has the greatest potential of any before it — with access to deep resources and many opportunities — but that virtually all of our creative and personal time is left unused.
There is great value in every life, and most definitely in your life. There are marvellous things you can learn, places you can visit, and people you can get to know. You can get fit, and feel the spring in your step. You can rediscover the wonder of nature and the joy of helping someone.
Let's see what is really in front of our eyes — it's not just a screen — but the steady erosion of our time, our potential and our future. Let's stop nickel and diming our lives.
We've watched things. Now, let's do things!
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Indeed, Rob, indeed.
What is so troubling to me is how the truths of your observations manifest themselves in settings where people still take the time & trouble to assemble together.
I will proffer a very specific example to illustrate this point:
The typical camera club meeting.
I have been heavily immersed in camera club environments since 2003, including associations in London, St. Thomas, Brantford & Woodstock.
I have discovered, to my complete chagrin, that a similar phenomenon takes place regardless of geographical location:
Nothing is savoured deeply anymore. Program directors & committee members knock themselves out to provide a diverse & interesting itinerary, only to watch helplessly as the members take in the evenings' events, & then go home – generally unaffected by what they've just beheld in anything more than a superficial fashion.
So buffeted are they by stimuli in their daily lives, that the 'camera club experience' only serves as a vicarious evening's worth of entertainment.
Nothing registers long-term.
Nobody is still atwitter about a guest presentation by the time the next meeting rolls around.
It's on to the next 'great thing.'
How can you engage someone in an exchange of ideas when they hace no capacity to plumb the depths of things?
Your observations may be a bitter 'wake-up' pill for sedated people to swallow, Rob…..
But you know what happens when you don't take your medicine. Your cautionary post is both timely & relevant. Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts. They are most pertinent.
PhiLiP s. SchMidT
London, Ontario
Phil, I understand the conundrum of the event organizer and the cheerleader: lots of special efforts, with the ripples sometimes fading too quickly.
The plenitude of events in our society can be more a bane than a benefit. “Living in the beacon” of constant media and purposeful attempts to grab our attention, it is difficult for people to truly focus on what is meaningful or good for them personally. It is like being nibbled to death by ducks.
I know that your photography comrades appreciate the efforts required to stage interesting meetings, and those special efforts help to keep the club intact and progressing. Every organization has committed people who make special efforts – who go above and beyond – and people do recognize that. You can be confident of that. The problem is that these committed people can get tired without encouragement or a team to help them.
We don't want the committed, special-effort people to burn out. Because if they give up, and should no one else step up, then things often go downhill. Why? Because without bright lights things go grey. And in a grey world people get distracted by the myriad of other things, or bored.
The analogy is modern TV, with umpteen channels. There might not be anything good on any of the channels, but with remote in hand, people flip from thing to thing, never quite bored, but never engaged. And now that we have screens everywhere, around us and even on us, life has become like watching TV.
But people need to be able to focus, and to find things that excite and compel them.
It is said that each of us can be great at something – but to do that we need to fore-go other things. In a world where each moment has a multitude of choices, focusing, and appreciating the value of the moment, is difficult.
In a world of influences from a distance, such as via screens, it is important to help people “be here” – to share community with those actually with them – to engage them. Whether we share a smile, a hand, or our special efforts, we are helping others reconnect in the ages-old necessity of appreciating the here and now. Because without now and here, we are lost in a blizzard of distant and unfulfilled otherness.
Keep on helping. Keep on engaging others personally. It has value.