Yikes!

Are you at risk?? Here’s the description:

“You can help prevent documentia – an epidemic that sees millions of people around the world taking photos and making videos of things rather than truly experiencing the moment. This illness compels them to snap shots of restaurant meals before tucking in to enjoy the chef’s creations. They feel the urge to film birthday cakes instead of simply watching the candle flames go out in a puff. They tweet about being at parties instead of truly interacting with the other people present. At its most debilitating, this illness makes people think they can’t sit down at a dinner table without checking their phones every couple of minutes. Entire families are at risk of this affliction…”

(Philip Solman and Debbra Mikaelsen, Publisher/Editor Edible Vancouver Magazine)

Yes, this is tongue-in-cheek, and because the writers care passionately about food (and families) they go on to encourage their readers to turn off their phones during meals. I worry that our electronic devices are creating an even worse epidemic, a disease which causes us to completely lose our ability to make polite conversation. I’m not sure what I’d call this affliction (small-talkitis?) but I could see the symptoms of it as I stepped onto the gondola to head back down Grouse Mountain on a recent May morning. Continue reading →