Question: A 43-year-old father of five, Justin Smith, created his own YouTube channel. He realized that since his children were constantly glued to their smartphones, he could no longer speak with them in any other way. On this channel, he talks about himself—where he works, and how he travels around the world. He believes that from now on, he will communicate with his children in this way because the gap will be so huge that one can no longer talk to children directly. One must be where they are. What do you think about that?
Answer: I think this is absolutely right. Children have already shifted their attention solely to screens. They do not see the world, they do not see landscapes. You take them out into nature, but they still keep looking at their smartphones.
They get on a plane—they are not interested in the plane. They board a ship—they are not interested in the ship either. They are always on their screens. If you show them a plane on the screen—it is interesting; a ship—it is also interesting; a landscape—it is interesting as well. But only on the screen!
That is, they have a completely different perception now, and we have to take that into account. What else can you do?
Comment: Suppose they have been cut off from landscapes. But in the process, they were also cut off from their father and mother.
My Response: No! Their father and mother are right in front of them on the screen. For the child, it is clear. But when they see a person in real life, it is unclear.
Even when sitting in a café or elsewhere, they do not talk to each other; they communicate only through their smartphones. So how can you avoid this? What can you do? There is no going back.
Our whole world is virtual. What is the difference whether I see my mom and dad on the screen that seems real to me (even though it does not actually exist, it forms some image within me), or I see them on my smartphone? It makes no difference from the perspective of Kabbalah. It is all just a matter of perception. We have slightly changed our sensations, and children have shifted to a more “clip-like” perception of the world. We just need to adapt to that. There is no other way.
And the sooner we adapt, the sooner we will gain contact with the children. And we will suddenly discover that when we place ourselves inside this smartphone, just talking heads of mom and dad, we can demonstrate anything to them, any kind of film! And they will understand it, that is the main thing. Otherwise, they will not understand us. You talk to a child, but he is staring into his gadget.
Question: Do you not think they have simply been deprived of their childhood?
Answer: They have not been deprived of anything! For them, this is childhood. And soon childhood will become even more virtual. What do you want, to go back to caves?
Comment: I would like to go back to the courtyards.
My Response: There is no need! That is your nostalgic memory, but for them, that does not exist. For them, nostalgia is only for the smartphone. Give them an ever more advanced smartphone each time, and that is it, they need nothing more.
Question: What will this eventually lead to?
Answer: To the realization that a person can perceive the entire world through a screen, and that the world itself does not exist. It does not exist! Waterfalls? You can find waterfalls on the screen. You find this, and you find that. Everything people tell me, everything I hear, I see it in front of me.
I do not even need to travel anywhere, by the way. Why would I? Everything is in front of me. The whole universe, the entire tiny Earth, everything is there. Great! I can call any friend and have a conversation with him. There is no need to run anywhere. At most, we can get together and even then, what for? So that everyone still looks at their own screen?
I am sure humanity will create tools to replace these little phones, and we will see a great deal in front of us—whether through special glasses, without glasses, or some other way. We will feel it within.
In fact, this is an approach toward the real world, not our mechanical one, which we also perceive only inside ourselves. We do not actually know what is in front of us because this image of reality is formed within us.
Various forces draw this picture of reality inside me. So why should I break away for the sake of this “reality”? Why do I need these walls, all this stuff? Why? After all, we can live in a completely different state.
Comment: But people love to travel around the world…
My Response: We will create it, make it, and travel that way!
Question: Will the sensation be the same?
Answer: Even better! Where can I travel at my age with a cane? But this way, I can swing from vines like a monkey, swim, dive into oceans—I will do everything! It will be me.
Question: Is that a good thing?
Answer: Why not? Even now we live in an illusory world. And we are heading into the real one, the one we will create ourselves.
In the end, humanity will reach a state where it needs only a smartphone and the bare minimum to satisfy its animal body. What is wrong with that?
Robots will work to provide us with what we need to fill ourselves. And I do not care what I will be filled with when I look into my smartphone, everything else is there.
History, geography, communication, travel, flights, novels, anything you want, it is all in there. Why would I need it all outside? Why build these big towers and all that?
Wonderful! I welcome this world. I do not feel bad for my grandchildren, I am happy for them! Because, in essence, they are building a much better world than the one they received from us.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman,” 11/1/24
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