Current location:politics >>
VOX POPULI: Look up from your smartphone and see the world around you
politics68People have gathered around
IntroductionIf aliens were to observe the Earth today, they would undoubtedly find humans to be strange creature ...
If aliens were to observe the Earth today, they would undoubtedly find humans to be strange creatures.
Food is so abundant that large amounts are thrown away daily, but many people suffer from hunger.
People fight and hurt each other. Moreover, despite having the ability to look far ahead, people walk with their heads down, bumping into one another.
“What is more important than avoiding the person right in front of you?” This is a slogan I saw at a local station a short while ago.
It seems accidents caused by “aruki sumaho” (walking while using smartphones) continue unabated. According to the Tokyo Fire Department, over the past five years, 158 people have been rushed to hospitals due to such accidents.
Those in their 50s constitute the largest age group among the patients, the department said.
In Chinese, such people are called “di tou zu” (low-head tribe), a term that mocks those engrossed in their smartphones, heads constantly bowed.
From a country that once demanded the “san gui jiu kou” (three kneelings and nine head knockings) ritual when meeting the emperor, the “low-head tribe” phrase seems to indicate, with a sharp irony, that the modern emperor is the smartphone.
As a hopelessly clumsy person, I can’t manage using a smartphone and walking at the same time, even if I wanted to. I am in awe of people who can smoothly navigate their way through crowded streets while typing away.
Do they have an extra set of eyes somewhere? It almost makes one joke about humanity undergoing a new evolution.
Situations that require you to look at your phone screen urgently are pretty rare. Why do we continue to stare at our smartphones? Perhaps it ties back to the issue of “boredom,” a problem that has plagued philosophers throughout the ages.
Li Bai (701-762), one of the most famous poets of the Tang Dynasty, composed a famous poem that contains the following lines: “Lifting my head/ I gaze at the moon above a mountain/ Lowering my head/ I reminisce about home.”
Let us put away our smartphones for a while and take a look around our town. The spring breeze is gentle and the cherry blossoms are starting to bloom. Let’s look up and walk forward.
--The Asahi Shimbun, March 31
* *
*Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.
Tags:
Reprint:Friends are welcome to share on the Internet, but please indicate the source of the article when reprinting it.“Stellar Station news portal”。http://sanmarino.brianlynch.org/news-85f699911.html
Related articles
Investigators return to Long Island home of Gilgo Beach serial killing suspect
politicsMASSAPEQUA PARK, N.Y. (AP) — Investigators returned Monday to the home of a New York architect charg ...
【politics】
Read moreChangde in C China Scales up Efforts to Develop Elderly Care Service System
politicsContact Us HomeNewsHighlightACWF NewsSocietyWom ...
【politics】
Read moreAlong Banks of Seine & Liangma Rivers: Summer Urban 'Living Rooms' of Paris & Beijing
politicsContact Us HomeNewsHighlightACWF NewsSocietyWom ...
【politics】
Read more
Popular articles
- Investigators return to Long Island home of Gilgo Beach serial killing suspect
- EconomyInFocus
- People Visit Guangyang Isle for Ecological Education Tour in SW China's Chongqing
- Nanwenying Community Improves Community Public Service System in Xiong'an New Area, N China
- Kevin Pillar gets 1,000th career hit in Angels' win at Texas
- China Enhances Judicial Protection for Minors Against Sexual Violations
Latest articles
Farm family’s newest crop shows China’s solar ascendancy
China Enhances Judicial Protection for Minors Against Sexual Violations
Vocational Education Turns Youngsters into World Champions
China to Pilot National Cultural Heritage
How Robert F. Kennedy Jr. could make the first debate stage
Tea Culture Event Held to Celebrate International Tea Day in Fuzhou, SE China
LINKS
- Netanyahu says Hamas No. 4 killed
- Oklahoma teen's wild, four
- AP Week in Pictures: Europe and Africa
- Cloud seeding is used around the WORLD
- Ukraine starts building 2 modern units at Khmelnytskyi nuclear plant
- Kraken outlast Wild 4
- Closing prices for crude oil, gold and other commodities
- Finding an apartment may be easier for California pet owners under new legislation
- Travis Kelce's favorite songs on Taylor Swift's new album REVEALED
- Chinese Grand Prix could deliver drama to F1 and slow Verstappen's victory march