The television screen was the lens to a kaleidoscope of Rio's vibrant Olympic stadium. Exuberant cheers flooded the venue while nations were showcased proudly adorning fluttering flags.
You would think at a historic moment like this, after fours years and a lifetime to get here, athletes would revel in the thrill at hand. It's true that each athlete did as such. Except in the hands of many, cell phones were busy capturing selfies. As fists pumped into the air out of sheer elation, selfie sticks and hoisted phones joined alongside. On a world stage, the act of taking selfies arguably overshadowed the story of marching undivided as a nation.
On a significantly smaller scale, I was recently eating at a restaurant and noticed a similarity between Rio and my surroundings. The waiter floated past and placed food at the table beside me. A young couple held hands across the table and thanked God for the meal before them.
Shortly after, the woman took a photo of their food and began (what I can only imagine) applying filters and thinking of a caption. While she was engrossed in merely the picture of the meal instead of the taste, her boyfriend resorted to the scripture of texting on his phone.
The intimacy of conversation with another person has been impeded by a preoccupation with ourselves. We mindlessly dismiss the current moment and instead attempt to salvage it in the form of a selfie or photo. We seek fulfillment from "likes" or even how many views our stories receive on Snapchat. Instead of being admired for our intellectual traits and conversational abilities, we focus on the physical.
As a consequence of the advancements of sharper technologies and images, our interpersonal skills are duller. The only real illumination that comes from a selfie is from the screen it's displayed on.
Although a picture may sometimes be worth a thousand words, we should put the phones away and spark a conversation instead.
