Live or Watch
Nobody can deny anymore the strengthening intersection of digital culture and daily life. But here’s the question: are we truly living in the moment, or are we too caught up in capturing it?
Getty Images, "LeBron James," via Vogue.
Man, man, oh man. What have we seen? Los Angeles, California, 02/08/2023. NBA - Los Angeles Lakers vs Oklahoma City Thunder. Everybody in the entire building knows where that ball is headed. The entire world knows it too. Everything happens so fast. LeBron James makes his iconic fadeaway shot to the left, leaving the opponent stuck on his feet. From that point on, it’s nothing if not poetry in motion. Three seconds of breathtaking art. Of history in the making. Of greatness disguised as a human being. As a simple basketball player. As His Majesty “The Chosen One”: LeBron Raymone James. For those who are not necessarily NBA fans, the 8th of February left an indelible mark on sports history: James officially became the highest-scoring player in the game, reaching 38,388 points. Wow, just wow. The news broke the net, making everybody fall in love with the player himself and with the entire sport while generating unprecedented amounts of social interaction.
Lebron James breaking the All-Time Scoring Record, by Andrew D. Bernstein
But here’s the thing. The more I read about it, the more my mind shifted toward a different and unexpected direction, making me wonder. In the following days, the inspiration I gained by witnessing such a great example of dedication and talent triggered me so much that I even decided to use the picture above as the main wallpaper of my Mac. And just by accident, something happened. I remember being tired - in the zone if you will - and staring at random things in my room. First, my eyes focused on the unquestionable beauty of my masterfully painted white walls, admiring the dedication and precision my dad put into it. Then it was the turn of my laptop’s camera, which I believe was dirty. I didn’t let it go until it was back to shining. And then the image. I must’ve probably stared at LeBron making the record for at least 15 minutes. Just like a baby discovering the world for the first time, my brain started feeling thrill and excitement by concentrating on all those elements that would create sparks in my mind. The colors of the fans’ shirts, the beautiful yellow color of the Lakers’ jersey, and the Barbie-pink of LeBron’s shoes acted together as a lullaby almost putting me to sleep. But then - don’t ask me why - another detail popped.
My phone buzzed. I grabbed it to see who it was. And it just clicked. As a perfect Neanderthal would have done if he had the chance, I looked at my iPhone as if I had just discovered America, and I realized. Almost everybody in the entire arena had their phones out. In a moment like that, when anybody knew the greatness and the unlikely repeatability of such a gesture, the predominant thought in their heads was to grab the phone and record the action. They didn’t think about the possibility of experiencing a one-of-a-kind miracle, but rather the chance they would have had to publish on IG a story or post. Almost every single person who went to the stadium that day missed an incredible opportunity that will probably never come again. Because, guys, let’s think about it. What’s the beauty of a moment like that? Why make an entire piece about it? I guess it can be different for anyone, but today I will share my own opinion, hoping someone will agree. We live life to experience moments. We seek adventures that make us sparkle. We are on a constant search for happiness that - some say - we’ll never reach completely. But why do we do that? Because we want to have meaning in our lives. We want to make sure that any single moment spent in our existence has a justified why, leaving nothing to fate. And all of this happens - if we really give it an introspective look - for a pretty straightforward yet hidden reason: when we are old and weak, we don’t want to look back at life and see regrets. This is why moments like the one that happened in Los Angeles should teach us a lesson or two. We should reflect on our actions and ask ourselves if the way we are currently living life will make us proud and satisfied once our cycle will come to a conclusion. I know. Now, you could probably think that turning one example into a universal rule valid for everyone could be seen as a premature move. And partially I’d understand. But I am not here to generalize. My intention doesn’t plan to draw permanent lines, locking people in boxes based on their actions. My goal is rather to reflect on the essence of our general conduct, digging deeper into the reasons that lead our behaviors by wondering whether we are masters of our choices or not.
Therefore, I asked myself why on Earth thousands of fans in the stadium that day preferred looking at the event through a digital lens rather than a real one. I tried to question my human intellect by reflecting on the possible reasons that could’ve led me to make the same mistake. And even though it was incredibly challenging - as my perspective of life is different - I somehow managed to get some answers, by talking to friends and putting personal thoughts on paper. The most recent digital revolution brought a new set of values and lenses to use to see reality, playing a game-changing role in shaping overall human perception. Our way of making and maintaining relationships with others has drastically changed in the last decades. Before the social media storm took place, we used to leverage our true personality to conquer love and friendships. And that happened because we had no other way, leaving us all with the only choice of putting ourselves on the line. But then, everything changed. We realized interacting with others through a screen was way more convenient and less time-consuming.
Lebron James, by Harry How
We can all construct our own image the way we want it to be, creating a surface that will make us turn into something we are not. Social networks altered the long-term vision we had, making our goal shift in a different direction. If at first, tools like IG served as a connecting tool for people to share their thoughts and interests, the use that people make today is headed toward a new path. We don’t publish and upload content for the unique purpose of sharing our point of view with other people who might possibly take our side. We decide to connect because we are desperately looking for approval. Receiving positive feedback from other audiences is what makes us want to keep going. So, the choice of recording LeBron scoring a shot of that magnitude easily qualifies as digital content. It tells people we can afford to buy tickets for a Lakers game. It tells the world we are cool because we are lovers of the game. We generate envy by showing one of the greatest sports players who ever existed only 60 feet away from us. After all these observations - which I guess we all are aware of - how can we still act that way? If we are conscious of how social platforms are negatively influencing our lives, why don’t we do something? The truth is that we are not able to live anymore without our phones. They’ve become the center of our world, playing a more than crucial role in shaping our lives. We used to be autonomous and we used to make our own decisions first of all. Digital enhancement has brought us numerous advantages also, such as the possibility to be connected with the entire planet or to capture moments we never would’ve been able to encapsulate. If those tools were used efficiently and smartly, no one would ever speak a word. But reality has shown us a different scenario, where some individuals are slowly associating the two worlds - real and digital - making no distinction between the two. Some believe technologies are an actual key to the interpretation of life, becoming entirely addicted to what screens tell us to do.
In this heartbreaking story, there’s one silver lining though. Even if we’ve just portrayed a scenario that some could define as not-so reassuring, there’s still a shade of light coming from the distance, that answers to the name of a man. A man, sitting in the front row to the right of the basket, dressed in a full-black casual suit, with his head nodding already because he knows what is going to happen. That man is Phil Knight (co-founder of Nike), and to me, he saves the day. In a background where phones act as supports of the human bodies that hold them in the air rather than just objects, he is the only real person who shows that not everything is lost. The world goes on, and it’s only fair that we advance, reaching for new things that can make our lives easier and more entertaining. But sometimes, it’s better to take a break from all this growth process and pause for a second and that’s exactly what Phil Knight teaches us. Let’s take a moment to enjoy life with our own eyes because no one will ever give us back what we missed. Life is too short and as such, we need to make the most of it. We don’t need a screen to admire beauty and greatness when we see it. We just need ourselves. No more no less. Older generations give us a precious lesson we better keep in our hearts. Life is a wide sequence of moments that reside in a wider sequence of seconds. Our job is to get lost in that. Not to think. Just to live. To embrace whatever comes. Because when the day comes, we will turn our backs knowing that we’ve done everything we could to make what we see a beautiful heart-pounding story.
Phil Knight, Daily Mail
