Can there be any doubt that we are all, albeit to varying degrees, able to mentally escape from what may be for us a boring or unpleasant intellectual environment by becoming involved in the distractive excitement, or possible soothing effect of gaming, sports, music, and other forms of entertainment?

What are many cell phones used for, other than direct communication with others? What, other than educational programs, are people listening to for many hours with headsets and earphones?

Is there not a perceived benefit derived from attempts at personal improvement? Are lipsticks and other cosmetics intended to be physical enhancements or distinctions from a plain appearance?

We are a society with ever increasing leisure. How is that leisure going to be best used? Will it be used to study problems and possible solutions, or will it be used for entertainment? Will the Apple AR, VR headset, which will be released according to rumor in the autumn of 2002, be the next big step forward? It will certainly be an alternative reality. To learn more, the following is worth a read. https://www.cnet.com/tech/computing/apple-ar-vr-headset-rumors-2022-release-m1-chip-and-more/.

I believe that the answers to the questions raised above are likely to lead to a conclusion that increasingly large segments of the population will be using technology to distract themselves from what for them may be troubling socio-economic realities, with or without the use of drugs..

My hope, though it is unlikely to be achieved, is that much of the increased leisure will be used in self and society improving education, rather than in further intellectual distancing from the possible unpleasantness and frustration of a future reality.

 

Arthur Lipper, Chairman                          arthurlipper@gmail.com
British Far East Holdings Ltd.