Saturday, July 28, 2018
I Can See Clearly Now
I remember when I got my first “big” television back in the late 90’s. It was the size of a small refrigerator and weighed over two hundred pounds. But it was a big step up from the standard 27” inch screens I’d grown accustomed to. And it was great.
Then in the late 2000’s I made the jump to an even bigger flat screen DLP, 56 inches. Wow, who knew this is what those actors really looked like. Then a couple of years later I bought an even bigger plasma flat screen. More wrinkles and pores. Those stars are not perfect after all.
Then two weeks ago I went to the next step with a 4K UHD LED television. And it’s just weird. I like it…I actually love it. But, it’s weird. It’s like you’re actually there. Not watching something that’s been recorded or even being televised. You’re actually watching it as though you are there except you can’t look around. You can only see what you see on the screen. And that’s worth repeating and remembering…you can only see what you see on the screen. So it’s not real, but it is entertaining. Perhaps a good way of describing much of our modern world.
I’m sure I’ll get used to it soon enough and begin to take it for granted. But when I think back to my childhood and the little black and white TV we watched, and enjoyed watching probably as much or more than we now enjoy watching these images on a ginormous flat screen, I wonder when will enough be enough. When will we run out of entertainment experience upgrades? Can we ever be satisfied? Of course, the answer is no to both questions. Virtual reality and artificially intelligent attendants await us somewhere in the future. And we’ll be wowed again, at least for awhile.
But eventually this will all come to an end. Certainly for each of us when our time comes and ultimately for all of us and all that is or ever was. The plug will be pulled and it will be over. And then we will see even more clearly and, at last, be seen for what and who we really are. It will definitely be the ultimate reality show.
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