Recently, I have observed that many elders, I don't know since when, have gradually become addicted to short videos. They hold their phones with a blank look on their faces, anxiously searching for more excitement and dopamine. They are no longer as "great" as they used to be. Sometimes, I want them to watch less fast-food videos and help them cultivate other digital hobbies, but to no avail. Haha, I can't even escape from my own information cocoon and "comfort zone," yet I want to change others! How ridiculous! It's still pathetic~ Is it because young people have been away from their hometown for too long, or because the elders' thinking is too conservative?
There is a behavior pattern that is very similar to that of children. When a child is hit by a parent, especially the one who shows more care, they will not run away, but instead hold on to them even tighter. Similarly, after being disgusted by fast-food videos, the elders will not choose something else, but continue scrolling down, hoping that the random algorithm can continue to fill their empty brains... Seeing them like this really makes me feel guilty. I regret not participating more in their lives, regretting that I have become marginalized to these people. At first, I especially disliked these short video platforms, thinking that they polluted the respectable and lovely elders. Later, I realized that it's not a particular software or service that is disgusting, but the marketing accounts and plagiarists! As for algorithms, they are mysterious and incomprehensible. Who knows what they really are?
Flowers wither, while the seeds of weeds grow in the soil; when focusing on fishing, the planted oak seedlings are also waiting for their random moment. What will replace these increasingly homogeneous fast-food videos in the future? I want to know, if we are not allowed to watch short videos, what will we do? And who can escape from this alienation on their own?
So, while we are still young, let's read more books!