A brief phone interview was conducted with the director of recently released film Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine, Alex Gibney. He is renowned by many for being “the most important documentarian of our time,” as he has attacked the issues within capitalism and disturbing the nature of Scientology in a couple of other movies.
The filmmaker challenges audiences to realize the consequences of living in the Digital Age, where our culture’s highest value is our technology. He specifically indicates the Apple Company, but it is just one of the catalysts of the bigger societal problem.
Only being a few decades old, this new lifestyle has come to the point where it fully consumes our lives. Internet Addiction Disorder (IAD) has become extremely prevalent in our time, so much so that it very well may be on its way to becoming medically classified as a real psychological disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V). While China has taken drastic measures to combat it in strict rehab camps, American consumerism has been encouraging it.
These are just four out of ten questions asked of Gibney.
Q: One of the most powerful aspects of the film is that you don't just indict Jobs or the cult of Apple. You indict all of us.
A: Yes, myself included. For me, the iPhone is a lot like Frodo and the ring. It's always in my pocket, and I feel myself drawn to it. I feel its power and its beauty but, there is a price to pay. The genius of Jobs was that he held up a mirror to all of us, he made an exciting and seductive pitch, that this machine wouldn't just be an extension of you. It would be you.
Q: When you think about Jobs being so much more comfortable with objects than with people, do you think he may have had elements of Asperger's to his psyche?
A: It seems like he may have. He was always more interested in connecting with machines than with people, and his genius was that he encouraged others to do the same, to have an intimate relationship with machines. This guy created a technology that could connect the world, yet which also isolates us so completely.
Q: Are you addicted? I'm afraid I am.
A: It is an addiction, but it is not hopeless. You can reckon with it. You can take it on.
Q: It's a lot easier said than done. It can be a hard battle to fight and still function in the world.
A: It is hard. But you should remember that you are a human, you shouldn't have to be poked and prodded by technology every minute. You should also try to live. You should look at the ocean and smell the brine. Don't just sit around waiting for the next beep.
"I fear the day that technology will surpass our human interaction. The world will have a generation of idiots." -Albert Einstein
I believe this is in fact what we have become. I have seen this quotation attached to a contemplative photo of Einstein floating around the internet for quite some time, but do we ever really address the problem? Or do we simply read it and nod in agreement as we continue to mindlessly scroll through Facebook? What can we do, though?
I don’t have a blanket statement answer to this question and I would not attempt to answer it for everyone else. I know that I am also a part of this negative movement towards isolation as I keep up multiple social media networks and rush to answer texts and emails as soon as I get the notification. Something I’ve been practicing to fight against this urge is just being present. Putting away my phone when I am in the presence of others and refusing to pick it up unless there is something dire that needs my attention. It is amazing how much you can miss when you are busy staring at a screen.
We should strive to live life to the fullest, valuing human relationships and interactions more than the relationships we have with our inanimate technological objects. Two-way relationships with living beings are more important than one-way relationships with machines. Your life is so much more than what can be contained in a handheld device, so live it out with people you love.
