Let me pose a few questions. When last did you read a book? When last did you sit with a beloved friend or family member and talked the day away? When last did you play or watch you favourite sport? When last did you pray or practised anything of your religion?
If among these five questions you have at least answered one with “yesterday”, you are on the right path. Well, I am asking these questions because of the alarming reality of people nowadays living virtual lives through the computers and cell phones. Young people have abandoned their real lives and created superficial images of themselves through social media and mobile applications. So many people have become anti-social in real life and would rather post things on-line they would not say in real life. It is not wrong to have a Facebook fan base, but when you start neglecting anything else in your life for the virtual fan base on social networks, you have stepped out of line.
People are not mentally present anymore, and yes this is dangerous in many ways. For starters it put strains on your real life relationships with your family members and friends. When you become a social network or internet addict, you give up your time to be with people who really love and care for you.
Secondly it gives you an illusion of being popular and chances you can develop what is called delusion of grandeur. Delusion of grandeur is the feeling of superiority and importance, or feeling bigger than you really are. Once you start living in the shade of your delusional grand image, you are discouraged and giving up on things that really matter in real life such as work or school because you feel you are much more than that.
You start caring much more about your on-line persona which can be destroyed in a second if you forget your password or perhaps your account get hacked.
Thirdly, social networks are a threat to our real life talents and intellectual capabilities. One thing that you need to know is your IQ can increase or decrease with time. It depends on how well you keep you mind engaged and mostly importantly what you engage it with. The more you give yourself less time, the more you become less aware of yourself and the environment around you.
You have to remember that you do not live on the internet and often you are going to make decisions that require good intellectual abilities for your real life. For you to make the right decisions regarding your career, your love life, your friendships and many personal choices, you need your intelligence. And the only way to keep your intelligence is to keep your mind engaged in real life activities as much as you can. The 21st century is no longer survival of the fittest, but of the wisest, so trust me when I say you need your intelligence.