Digital Slavery

If you knew with 100% certainty that you are currently living in a science fiction dystopian world, how would you live your everyday life?

Work Done Digitally is Fake, and Work Done Physically is Real?

Nothing is really happening in the city. All innovation is done digitally. There’s no real innovation occurring in real life. The problem with this is, as we are all distracted by the gimmicks and novelty on our digital devices, we neglect the modern world around us and the advancements that occur within the physical realm. Think of the movie Ready Player One, where the main characters live in poverty, in tin shacks stacked on top of each other, but have virtual reality and live within that second world.

As it currently stands, we are enslaved to technology, and I believe we will only truly be free once we make robot slaves. ChatGPT can already and will complete every task done within 75% of modern workplaces within the next ten years. I’m pretty sure that Elon Musk already gave Neuralink to a few people who can operate technology from their brains. Didn’t he do this with a monkey, and now a monkey can play on the computer? I feel like if we can train monkeys to use computers, maybe humans shouldn’t use them?

So, if this were the case, how should we design our lives now, preparing for the future, in a new world of abundance?

Hell is a Place You Create on Earth

Every week, there is a street preacher who stands on Market Street and constantly judges everybody, telling people that they’re going to go to hell if they don’t repent and accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior. What baffles me about this approach to preaching is how unwelcoming it is, almost equivalent to the fear-mongering from the news, just pure doom and gloom. Honestly, this preacher just creates hell for himself on earth by constantly speaking hell into existence. The more he speaks about this fiery pit where people will burn for all eternity, he is quite literally living there, right here, on earth, in his mind. He can’t shake the notion of hell out of his mind and has the nerve to constantly preach about it, as it has consumed him and his soul.

“And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?” – Matthew 7

What this preacher is doing is exactly what Jesus warned us against. Before judging other people, we must point out our own flaws. The preacher has not recognized the “beam” of fear that clouds his eye. With his obsession with hell, he creates a hellish existence for himself on earth, filled with anxiety over the fate of other people, disconnected from the core idea of Christianity, being love and forgiveness.

Silence is Bliss

Have you ever woken up before the sun rises, listened to the sounds of the birds singing and insects humming, standing on top of a cliff, looking out towards a flowing river, a tree canopy, with beautiful, twinkling stars in the sky?

I’m Already in Heaven

In the beginning, God created heaven and earth. On earth, there was darkness, but then there was light.

Fiat lux – let there be light

Ultimately, I believe we are all light, divine beings, created by God in his image. We all have an inner light, a spark of that divine quality within each and every one of us.

Sometimes when I walk around in nature, alone, and gaze up at the sun, it feels like there’s this gigantic spotlight shining down on me, reminding me that I am both a player and conductor of the cosmic drama that takes place on this stage that we call earth. There’s this warm feeling, quite literally a physiological feeling, of the sun kissing my skin, that flows love inside me. This reminds me of the light that exists within all people and that we all have a divine connection to one another, nature, and the universe at large. While darkness may cloud and consume the lives of many people, I believe if we align with nature, we can find our inner light. If all of humanity aligns with light, or simply steps outside, embraces the silence, recognizing our connection to nature itself, we can create heaven on earth. I’m already in heaven because I’ve aligned with nature, with the source, with the essence of what makes us who we are: light.

Cancel Culture is the Devil

When I think about COVID-19, at the beginning, when I first went to a grocery store, a lady was screaming at me to “step back, 6 feet!” Everybody was in a frenzy, filled with anxiety, at scale, affecting the masses. During this time, many people were being canceled through digital media if they would not receive a vaccine or even use their freedom of speech. During this time, we saw more suppression than ever before when it comes to our speech. There were even newscasters calling out people who were unvaccinated for their decision, and that they should be banished from society. The amount of fear, guilt, and shame that was promoted during this time felt like the work of the devil or something sinister and very evil. If people cannot come together, despite having opposing views on science, health, religion, politics, or philosophy, then how will we ever advance as a society?

Assume Everybody is a Bot

Going forward, let’s assume that all Internet users that have the time to leave comments, send messages, etc., are merely bot accounts. Think of platforms like Reddit and the arguments that occur in the comment sections. All Reddit users are bots. Think of the news on television, and how every channel feeds the same information over and over again. It does not matter where your source is coming from; it is all the same and best to just avoid it. I find it hard to trust other people who receive information through the TV, and especially people who use platforms like Reddit, Instagram, etc.

Media Production Thoughts

What I find interesting about producing media, instead of consuming media, is that it allows you the opportunity to augment your mind. When I use my GoPro and film my authentic thoughts while walking out in public, I never filter myself. I simply speak my mind and let my stream of consciousness flow out in words. I think this is something that is lacking within modern media, as everything has a script, and people put on a mask and become an actor. However, using a GoPro with the super view quite literally puts somebody, a viewer, in my shoes. With that perspective or POV, you not only feel like you’re there with me but also hear me clearly, through audio, and authenticity. Honestly, producing your own thoughts or media becomes extremely empowering. I think the problem with most people who seek to start a YouTube channel is they do it for an audience, pleasing others, seeking approval, or even some sort of fame or money. However, if you were making media simply to feed your own curiosities or potentially impact the life of one other person? If this was the goal, how would you approach making media differently? For me, creating media allows me to augment my mind, my thoughts, me, and allows me to think more deeply about how I view the world at large.

Nature is Natural

While I absolutely love living in the city, and believe it to be the supreme place for society to flourish, together, I can’t help but recognize how unnatural it is. The good thing about Philadelphia is the number of green spaces that we have, with the largest parklands within any city in the country, and also the Wissahickon forest, which is right in our backyard. Philadelphia has so many spaces to get away from the hustle and bustle, from the Schuylkill River Trail to the Delaware River and all of the parks in between. Aligning with these spaces provides the citizens of the city a way to appreciate the beauty that exists in nature. I always make an effort to walk through the parks when I practice my street photography because they simply uplift me. When I see birds fluttering by or hear the sounds of the wind blowing between the trees and the leaves, I think these very natural places are missing in society and cities as we sequester ourselves indoors, away from the natural beauty that exists in the world around us.

Hand Strength

Maybe our grip strength is the ultimate sign of strength itself. Have you ever tried to climb a tree, gripping the branches and pulling your body weight up? When I was a young boy, I remember climbing trees that were so tall and enjoying myself swinging down hills on vines in the forest in my backyard. Our strength arises from the grip in our hands, our feet, and our legs. I think we should focus on grip strength more, through using two dumbbells and practicing the farmer’s walk. I also enjoy stretching my wrists every morning during my yoga routine, and I find this to be extremely helpful. When I wear barefoot shoes, I’m strengthening my feet, my calves, and my legs, with the lack of ankle support and the bare minimum sole that is 3 mm thick under the base of my foot. I’ll never forget when I was a Peace Corps volunteer in Zambia, Africa, and the boys played soccer without shoes on. I remember trying to participate in a similar fashion, removing my shoes, and ended up having to soak them for a week straight afterward, as I had blistered feet. However, the boys in the village all had such strong hands and feet because when they work and build homes or bricks, they do not use gloves, and when they play, they do not wear shoes. This creates a formidable body, a strong grip, through the hands and feet.

Child Mind

So ultimately, I’ve come to the conclusion that the best way to live life is that of a child. A child voluntarily plays. Think of when you went to the schoolyard and asked others if they wanted to play tag. Everybody was eager and ready to go, smiling and cheerful within their souls. However, as you get older and become an adult, you have to involuntarily play the game and become a slave to all of the systems we put in place. When I go through my day, I find myself in uncontrollable laughter when random things occur, like branches falling from a tree or even watching the way bystanders on the street interact with technology. Everything becomes extremely amusing or funny, which fills me with this cheerful sensation, with the mind of a child. I think we should just not take things so seriously, be cheerful, more gay, jolly, and a little bit more lighthearted. In a world run on fear, let’s break free from these chains, and fly out of the cage.