"Digital Complications" Recommended Preface: Are you a bowhead?

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“Are you a bow-headed person?” One night when I returned home and was about to walk back to my room after dinner, my mother, who was sitting in a corner of the living room, stared at the TV screen and suddenly asked for no reason.

I held the tea cup and turned to my mother with a knowing smile. Hey, of course I know what my mother means by “head-down people”, but what’s more surprising is how did she know this new term? You probably saw it from TV news or newspapers, right?

People with bowed heads have become a part of the urban landscape

To me, the phenomenon of “head-bowing people” is no longer surprising. In the subway, on the bus, and even in large conference rooms, there are people everywhere with “head-down people”. The sight of everyone holding an iPhone or iPad has become a part of urban life. Whenever they have a free moment, they immediately merge into the virtual world of less than ten inches. They may use LINE messaging software to chat with friends, or they may move their fingers quickly on the screen to play Draw Something with an unknown netizen on the other side of the world.

Everyone is so busy. In addition to watching TV and computers, they are also restricted by the mobile phones in their pockets. Just imagine, there are several screens to look at in life. In this S generation (The Screen Generation), how should we face the bright screen in our hearts?

You and I both have digital complications

In fact, you and I living in this digital age have already been infected with “digital complications” without knowing it. Every morning as soon as I open my eyes, I can’t wait to pick up the mobile phone next to the bed and quickly open the email software with my fingers, just to know who has sent a letter in the middle of the night? (Usually, we just get a bunch of junk mail or irrelevant newsletters.)

Then while eating breakfast, I hurriedly open Facebook to catch up on the latest updates on my friends’ graffiti walls, as well as various corny jokes or reposted pictures. Then use the time between commuting to send a big smile or words of blessing to friends who have birthdays today. It seems that only completing these “rituals” with one’s own hands is the starting point for a day’s life.

However, have you ever asked yourself, how long has it been since you have been with your family, and how long has it been since you had a good chat with your friends around you? Should we temporarily put down the digital tools at hand, stop relying too much on convenient online services such as Google and Yahoo, and let our thinking return to its natural rhythm?

It is true that we can no longer resist the baptism of digital culture, but we cannot underestimate the various complications that come with it. If you want to understand the various impacts that digital technology has brought to the world, especially the conflicts between the positive and negative sides, I recommend that you take the time to read the new book “Digital Complications” (https://www.books.com.tw/exep/prod/booksfile.php?item=0010554369) written by Mark Bollin.

Whether you are a digital aborigine or just a new immigrant in this paradise, as long as you spend a little time reading, I believe you can get some inspiration from this book and face the coming of this new era with more confidence.

Postscript: This is the recommendation preface I wrote for the book “[Digital Complications] (https://www.books.com.tw/exep/prod/booksfile.php?item=0010554369)” published by The Times in August 2012. In the article, I mentioned some common digital cultural phenomena. This book not only explores the issues of being a downtrodden or internet native, but also provides more guidance on how to survive in this digital age. This may not be an easy book to read, but it is worth savoring.

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