The Itch and Pain of Looking at our Phones in Vain
Disobey is a must
There was a time, and I’m that old, when I remember seeing the Hare Krishnas in the streets. I haven’t seen them in a while; they are a rare sight these days. I don't know why but for some reason, they loved airports. I remember the singing, dancing, and their cool drumming, and the small hand bell like cymbals loudly crashing against each other with that distinct metallic plashhhh.
I liked their music and energy from a certain distance because I was never into cults. But what always called my attention was the way they played their music. Starting slowly and progressively sped up until it was complete madness, as if they could not go any faster, and everything became chaotic and almost disturbing. At that point, the music would suddenly return to a slow and sane pace, just like when it started. “Hare Krishna, Krishan Krishna, hare hare.” more on that later.
The times we live now resemble the chaotic stage when everything is about to blow up. At the center of our generalized daily madness is seeing people in their never-ending adoration of their phones and social media.
Our endorphin-seeking reptile brain seeks getting high on information, painfully staring at a tiny screen, looking for some other life, constantly pulling you from the present, promising reward and pleasure on the next click. Still, they never do, so you keep trying until it hurts. Still, most people don’t notice the pain because it became part of our lives.
Like an itch that can’t be satiated you scratch until it bleeds and the itching urge becomes pain. I noticed that lately as my mind drifts in a cloud where my focus has been progressvely hijacked. But this morning I came to an epiphany. We are all addicted. I got hold of my addiction and made a pact with myself.
I happen to have an aversion to addiction, I inherited that from my mother. She could smoke cigarettes whenever she wanted and not get addicted. She used to call it “genetic trait”. When I feel I’m addicted to anything, I feel repulsion to that thing.
As I sat in front of my large computer screen this morning, knowing I had no particular reason to sit there. I didn’t have any task in mind. But I fire up the bitch and the nice colorful screen came alive to greet me. What do you want, Sir?
I click on Instagram and see the posts I saw this morning when I checked them on my phone. Then I clicked on Facebook, and the same familiar things reappeared. I begin, again to flip through the reels. Trump this; Trump that; the pretty girl dancing again, the dog video, the cat video, and the guy who is telling us a big recession is coming; now, my favorite comedian with a joke. It never ends and as I flip the flipping gets faster on a crescendo like the Hare Krishnas’ music.
This shit is controlling me, I say to myslef. I’ve just spent one entire hour doing nothing but this nonsense. Going from the thing I’ve already checked to the other thing I’ve checked just a moment ago. I could not control myself. Tell me if I’m any different than everybody else? Everyone is doing the absolute same shit. Shit me not.
I drive to work, and as I stop at the light, I see people crossing the streets and walking on the sidewalk. Everyone, old and young, is walking and looking at their phone like zombies in a weird movie. One pedestrian crosses the street in front of my car, and she is texting. At some point she slows down almost to a halt as she tries to finish her texting. Oblivious of her surroundings.
I find a place to park, as a guy jumps in his car, signaling he is leaving. He goes inside but his care doesn’t move. What’s happening. Oh, I forgot. I have to wait until he checks if he got any likes on the cat video he posted.
I get to work and promise not to touch my phone, only if necessary. I started my shift, and boredom sets in, at some point, and I feel my hands reaching for my phone. An attempt to escape boredom. It is just an urge, like the urge to light up a cigarette. I look at the other nurses; they reach for their phones at every chance and look at nothing too. The difference this time is that I’m paying attention to myself and to others.
I go into the break room, and the nurses are having dinner. Every single one of them is looking at something on their phones. I pay attention to their phone behaviour. They are not even focusing on one thing, they just flip from one thing to another.
At this point, I begin to suspect something seriously wrong with society. I think we have crossed some Rubicon.
Disobey
We all know by now that our devices are spies. Measuring and monitoring everything we do. What we buy, what we look at, what we talk about and where we go. Our phone is a multitask utility tool measuring device; we’re inputting all our lives to it 24/7. There is a direct measuring of our activities, and indirect manipulation through social media that pushes ideas, trends, and conspiracy theories. And this is old common knowledge.
The brave new world twist is that all this information is now being consolidated, stored, and organized into a new entity called AI. A super artificial brain that teaches itself and serves the latest digital tech society owned by a few oligarchs that don’t care about your well-being. What could possibly go wrong?
We have a newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), teams of young tech operatives that are systematically dismantling democratic institutions and replacing them with proprietary artificial intelligence systems. Smart devices harvesting all our information and the new artificial intelligence systems are the marriage made in hell.
Mike Brock in his article The Plot Against America, brilliantly exposes the ongoing coup oligarchy is carefully executing to destroy democracy and replace it with proprietary technology and AI models.
Decision-making power is being transferred from elected officials and career bureaucrats to algorithms controlled by a small network of Silicon Valley elites. This isn't a spontaneous coup—it's the culmination of a dangerous ideology that has been meticulously developed since the 2008 financial crisis, one that sees democracy itself as obsolete technology ready to be “disrupted.” Source: Substack
It becomes clear that our phones are not only robbing us from our present moment, but by default, they have become dehumanizing tools employed by the new cyber system mentioned above. So, it becomes clear that the most crucial action to fight this system that does not benefit anyone unless you’re a billionaire is to resist and disobey.
Not easy. And I am the first to say that. It is a constant struggle to stay awake and aware. But you’ll be surprised how much you can do by just being aware of it. It makes a big difference. It is a constant meditation and monitoring, and paying attention to your actions moment by moment.
Illusion creates reality
But let’s crank it up a couple of notches with quantum physics, which tells us that observation creates reality.
“In the 1950s, Doctor Henry Beecher, an anesthesiologist in the front line of WWII, faced a horrowing challenge. Supplies of morphine have run out, yet wounded soldiers lay before him in agony. Desperate, he administered saline injections, telling his soldiers, it was a powerful pain killer. To his astonishment, many reported significant relief. Their pain seemingly vanishing. What has changed was not the injection but the soldier's belief in its power. This phenomenon would later be called the Placebo effect”
An astounding demonstration of the mind’s ability to alter the body’s chemistry, releasing endorphins and modulating neuro pathways, as if real medicine has been given.
The mind does not perceive reality, but it helps to create it. Our thoughts, intentions, and emotions influence the world around us. Focused awareness might help to shape the environment and the probabilities within the quantum field.
The observer effect is a cornerstone of quantum mechanics, which tells us that observing a particle changes its state, collapsing many possibilities into a single reality. This was demonstrated by the double slit experiment.
If you made it this far, I recommend watching the video below to understand this concept of observation and reality better.
The question remains: What would the effect be on our world when most of us are constantly observing processed information fed to us by AI? This is pretty much what we are fed daily through social media, when it is becoming impossible to tell how media was created: a human or a machine programmed by a small group interested in profiting from our impoverishment.
But maybe the Hare Krishnas have a hidden message for us. Their music shows us that after the inevitable chaotic rhythm reaches its peak, there is only one place to go, but to return to the peaceful beginning.