Heads Down

Everyone, Heads Down! I fell like shouting that every time I am in public because that seems to be the majority position for most humans today. They have their heads down, of course, so they can see the screen on whatever mobile device they are carrying.  What brought this to mind is the huge number of walkers I see in my neighborhood displaying the same heads down position. I haven't yet run down any of then with my car as they shanty along the street, oblivious that they have drifted into the automobile lane. I swear that I am trying to avoid them!

It's fall here, the leaves are beautiful, nature is gorgeous and yet they either put their heads down and punch their fingers on their cell phone screen or the second most recognizable human position is used instead. That would be the head up, but head glued to a cell phone, mouth chattering way at whatever inconsequential garbage they speak into their phones. That they miss the beauty of the real world around them in favor of a imaginary one inside of an electronic device is rather sad. Have humans gotten to the point in their evolution that they can not engage the natural world at all? Do we have to live inside our virtual world even when what is there is vastly inferior to nature's beauty?

When not hiking I see the electronic gadget addicts using everywhere else. A recent study says that the average American teenager spends 9 hours each day using a cell phone or some other electronic devise. That's more than those kids sleep at night, and when added to the sleep total means the next generation is present and engaged in the real world about 7 hours per day. Good luck to the world of the future.

No matter where we go now the heads down position is the most common one. I suspect if an app is ever developed that allows a user to disappear into the virtual world, I may be the only human left on the planet.