The disturbing theory of living life as a YouTube video.
It all started with spicy noodles I should never eat for dinner.
The heartburn made me wake up, and I started watching videos on YouTube (bad idea).
I saw an old video of Alan Watts. In the video, Watts was about 40 years old, and he said something that blew my mind.
“You were continually living somewhere you aren’t. There is no way to plan for a future that, when you get to it and become the present, won’t be there: You’ll be living in another future that hasn’t happened. And because of that, you can’t enjoy the fruits of your actions.”
F*ck! That quote hit me hard.
I started thinking about my goals and dreams and realized I was not thoroughly enjoying my path.
Then I started watching the screen of my smartphone until I realized that my life is like a YouTube video.
The disturbing theory of living life as a YouTube video
stopped the Alan Watts video and noticed that the YouTube video had the following three elements.
- Playback speed
- Red elapsed time bar.
- A gray diagram (above the time bar) that shows the video’s most and least viewed parts.
Suddenly, my head connected the dots and related everything to Watts’ phrase.
We live life as if we want to skip the boring parts. Putting our days on double playback speed. Losing interest in the valley moments (the less replayed ones) and only wanting the peaks to get dopamine.
But then you get to the peak moment (to the desired future/goal), and there is nothing and again to move the red bar of the video of our life until we get to another peak moment.
And so we live a superficial life without context, missing all the subplots of our story and the potential futures that arise from those opportunities if you don’t ignore them.
That is the reality. And that reality scared me so much that I had to sleep with the light all night.
It would be best if you had valley moments to enjoy your peak moments
If there are no valleys (dull moments), everything is a peak moment, and consequently, if you join the points of the peak moments and eliminate the valley moments, everything ends up at the same level, being a plateau. Therefore, life becomes flat.
Hence the apathy of society today.
When I realized that, I realized that you only have two options when you live like that.
- Look for higher peak moments (more euphoria and intensity).
- Or live a flat and apathetic life.
I have lived both ways. The first led me to a life entirely of addictions and excesses.
The second to a life of sadness and apathy.
Takeaway
In the morning, after taking an Almax and taking a hot shower to wake me up, I realized that the only thing the future promises is to go one way or another, to live one life or another.
The future itself is not essential; choosing a future that allows you to follow the path you want to explore. is important
It is as if the future were only the direction you set the GPS of the universe to recalculate the route.
But it is beautiful to travel that route, with its peaks and valleys.
P.S.: don’t eat spicy noodles before going to sleep 🙂
A virtual hug
AG
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