Written in October 2014, translated in January 2021.
Realm of Virtual Residences
From the moment they wake up in the morning until going to bed at night, people seem happy with their mobile devices what became their limbs connecting them to “modern” life… This means is roughly available for more than 50% of the world population and has an influence to such an extent to trigger an intellectual evolution.
“Meaning of life" is nowadays presented to us as a art form. Whereas our basic necessity to communicate is almost an entirely different literary wisdom… We employ “consumption” instead of “production” for self-fulfilment. Even the definition of consumption is being updated recently. First, psychology was turned into a retail product and now we are selling it bundled up with philosophy. It seems as though our preferences and experiences have conspired a strategic partnership for us to become mass consumption agent.
Meanwhile, our smart phones serving as our mobile limbs, provide us a residence address in a virtual cosmos. As a result, while compound content produced by humanity is used as the accelerator of consumption, these virtual residences provide us an access to infinite colours on the shelves of retail diversity. And to cap it all, our senses stimulated at levels of interaction never been experienced before in the previous world…
Happy Mobile Consumer (“Homo Sapiens Mobilus XL”)
As Happy “Mobile Consumers” we are trying to fictionalize stories about living with the point of view of a low budget collector buying reproductions of quality goods. Of course, we are dressed up with our conscious consumer t-shirts in this fiction.
I reckon, to buy an idea, the average Happy “Mobile Consumer” first evaluates over 75% of marketing offers delivered to one’s own virtual residence. All sorts of things are included in these offers; they could comprise anything from a retail social responsibility project to a mass marketed state propaganda.
And the Happy Mobile Consumer decides to purchase these set of services or products, tens of features of which one never uses, by reading the comments on social media with the attitude of a conscious consumer. Next source of information comes from the experiences of friends, who have also purchased these products and never used many of their features just like the inquirer. Then comes those “liked” by friends. Own research comes last in the list.
From the responses, it appears as though direct marketing campaigns do not make much of an impact on this group. In the focus group studies carried out with this group however, it becomes apparent that same adverts influence their consumer profiles! Nevertheless, designed social media profiles and micro community solidarity, of course have a great influence involved in defining “thumbs up” mobile internet marketing tactics.
In short, this large and relatively fortunate group on a global scale, appears to me like the limited-edition models of a luxury car brand. This transitionary species that I call “Homo Sapiens Mobilus XL”, have left their foot-print on the world’s digital realm for the past 10 years.
Indeed, it is the first time in history of the world, we live in a period where average people know too many “things”. Don’t we know it all? And we thrive to know more, although what we make of it remains a big question mark, our appetite to know more seems to increase almost insatiably.
Although this kind of species, whose limbs and devices used are labelled “Smart”, possess the ability to generate complex intellectual experiences and outputs as a group, it remains a big question as to how smart they are at individual levels. By which, perhaps they are doing the right thing!
Homo Mobilus: I Make My Own Choice!
We reach a philosophical debate at this point; happiness and meaning of life from a jovial or hedonist perspective...
The world, we, as the latest model of “Homo Sapiens Mobilus XL”, pop our heads and look into with the help of the functionality of our mobile limbs, offers us many choice patterns. Our choices remain limited to establishing as into which patterns we will fit. Mass marketing and advertising picks out social cursors from our social lives as it suits their purposes, then delivers us a mixed combo pack of consumer patterns and profiles us as we consume.
In such case, this transitionary species I call “Mobile Consumer Man” or as “Homo Sapiens Mobilus” in Latin, is left with two tools to liberate itself. Which are, either to listen to its feelings or use reason. It is wise to act rationally, because such romanticised illusions like becoming warrior against the system solely serves to open a new page in the realm of consumer content. In this day and age, where even philosophy was turned into a retail product, we are faced with “Rational Parsimony” as the first front of a denouement battle that will last for many generations to come…
So, in brief, with a little will power, it seems possible to carry out an operation to reduce the factors that could disable you to make your own choices. I reckon that we could take the first step immediately by starting to imagine long term, live in advance and declaring your solid intention for this goal.
In terms of taking up our position, even merely considering the gap between the prices and values of “things” we consume, as well as that of our necessities and expectations, shall make it easier for us to begin to feel ourselves, along with those we care about, more liberated.
In order to establish all these, it would be sensible to set off with words “Pause” and then “No Rush” as constant reminders in our minds while continuing our journey will be supportive elements for the sense and joy of “One Life”.