Current location:politics >>
VOX POPULI: Look up from your smartphone and see the world around you
politics96555People 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.“Worldly Wonders news portal”。http://belize.whetstonetavern.com/news-85b199911.html
Related articles
Talor Gooch of LIV Golf gets a special invitation to the PGA Championship
politicsTalor Gooch of LIV Golf gets to play in at least one major this year. He announced Monday on social ...
【politics】
Read moreChina's industrial output up 6.1 pct in Q1
politicsBEIJING, April 16 (Xinhua) -- China's value-added industrial output, an important economic indicator ...
【politics】
Read moreSolomon Islanders vote in key election for their country, region — Radio Free Asia
politicsSolomon Islanders queued to vote in the rain and under a boiling sun, undeterred by fickle weather o ...
【politics】
Read more
Popular articles
- Suspect in custody after video recorded him appearing to steal a police vehicle amid gunfire
- Pirates stay careful with prized rookie Jared Jones despite overpowering performance vs Mets
- AP mock NFL draft 3.0: 8 trades, including 2 in the top 5 highlight AP's final mock draft
- Dozens of Russian athletes are likely to qualify for the Paris Olympics. Will Moscow let them go?
- Justin Steele returns from hamstring injury as Cubs take on Padres
- A woman who accused Trevor Bauer of sex assault is now charged with defrauding ex
Latest articles
Man recreates 20
Russia begins withdrawing peacekeeping forces from Karabakh, now under full Azerbaijan control
Solomon Islanders cast votes in an election that will shape relations with China
Protests, heightened terror threat mean tight security at Eurovision Song Contest in Sweden
China's software industry logs steady growth in Q1
Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni's new romance movie It Ends With Us now delayed until early August
LINKS
- 1st section of Chinese
- Red Sea crisis mounts pressure on Asia trade
- Interview: Expert says Algeria
- Zhongguancun Forum builds platform for global sci
- Xinhua News
- China makes significant progress in geographical indication protection
- Israel lifts all precautionary restrictions after Iranian attack: army
- Rwandans honor fallen politicians as genocide commemoration week ends
- Feature: African entrepreneurs eye opportunities in China's Xiong'an New Area
- China's stance on non