Removing Ourselves from Real Experience

I was thinking today about how we lead lives that are geared toward experiences that are removed. For example, instead of cooking for ourselves, we watch other people cook on the Food Network.

Now, I love the Food Network as much as the next person – maybe more than some. But isn’t there something odd about the fact that most of the people who watch it never cook? Not nessarily cook something they saw on the Food Network, but they just don’t cook. But they like to watch other people cook.

I would wager the same is true of quilting shows, crafting shows and a host of other things.

Consider that we no longer get on bicycles and ride somewhere we need to go, or even to a park for enjoyment. Instead we go to climate controlled gyms and ride stationery bikes while watching scenery on TV. Isn’t there something basic wrong with that scenario? We don’t want to have the actual experience of riding a bike outdoors, we experience it in a removed fashion.

We play video games about exploring worlds, instead of just going outside our houses and actually exploring our neighborhoods. We chat with strangers online instead of going to the diner down the street and having a real conversation with a real live person. Somehow we want to remove ourselves from the actual experience.

I’m not sure what is at work, as I sit here along, blogging about these questions, instead of talking to someone about them. But, in my defense, everyone I know in real life has long ago gotten bored with my continual questions, which are always plentiful. Obviously, I should find more friends – new people who haven’t yet been bored with the questions. I could even recycle some from long ago.