Many of us still struggle to come to terms with the fact that we’re already well into 2024.
The last time we checked it was the turn of the decade, so where did the past four years go?
The answer lies, in part, with the Covid pandemic, which swallowed up a whole chunk of our lives.
But, according to TikTok and Instagram star Mike Mancusi, there are other, more insidious, factors at play.
In a video titled “Life hasn’t felt like reality since 2020”, Mancusi explains why many of us have been experiencing a strange disjuncture in recent times.
He begins the clip by saying he’s noticed a common complaint from fellow content creators (namely millennials): that they can’t even remember life prior to 2020.
“It doesn't really feel like it's been reality, and it fees like it’s been erased from our actual life,” he says.
Mancusi, goes on to claim that the cause of this “phenomenon” is “the fact that we're not living life in reality anymore.”
He explains: “2020 smashed our existences into our phones and into the digital world, and we are no longer existing in our physical space.”
He then suggests that we’re now living in a “digital world that isn't even real” and “only dealing with problems that are within our circle of influence.”
In other words, he says, we’re essentially living in a video game.
@mikemancusi Life hasnt felt like reality since 2020 #existentialcrisis #existentialism #existential #2020 #technology #millennials #millennial
He continues: “We are still organic beings, and our brains have become completely connected to this artificial device.
“We're not cyborgs yet,” he stresses. “So the fact that our entire existence is attached to this piece of technology is awful.
“And even in situations where we actually live life, where we break out of our routine, where we go on a trip, where we take a vacation, you’re still locked into your same cycle of unhealthy behaviours.”
He suggests that even when we travel, we spend the “whole time” thinking about our phones and what we’re “missing out on” on social media.
Mimicking a common thought process, he says: “Oh well, people are going to love this trip. I’ve got to make sure I take videos and I post [them] and I get likes and all this stuff.”
Put simply, he stresses: “We are no longer actually living life in our physical space. We are living life through the phone.
“This is why life does not feel like reality is because we're not in reality anymore.
“Life just seems to basically disappear when you're trapped in a routine [of] our brains being just completely connected to whatever is happening within this device.”
He ends by offering his audience a “tip” that he hopes will help them break out of this unhealthy rut: “I want to remind you, [your phone] has an off button. You can turn it off. And if you turn it off, it doesn’t exist anymore.”
Addressing the viewer as an individual, and branding them a phone “addict”, he urges them to: “Shut the phone off. Bring yourself back into your physical space. Focus on the things that physically are in front of you and finding joy in those things."
Citing the importance of surrounding yourself with friends, family, and even pets, he continues: “Don't feel like any of those things needs to be compromised with filming or [thinking], ‘Other people need to experience this with me.’
“No, they don't,” he insists. “Live life in your physical space. Find joy again in the things that are in your physical space, and don't let the robot be responsible for what makes your brain feel good.”
The clip has racked up more than 2.6 million views and 245,000 likes, since it was posted back in April, with commentators effusively endorsing his stance.
“I literally went from being a complete extrovert to a hermit introvert,” one fellow TikToker acknowledged.
“These last 4 years [have] been a dystopian nightmare,” added a second.
“I downloaded TikTok to combat the quarantine boredom and I haven’t been the same since. Not in a good way, either,” admitted a third.
While a fourth lamented: “I turned into a different person. I was once outgoing, spontaneous, active. Now I just sit at home riddled with anxiety worrying about things that will never happen.”
The irony here is that people have engaged with Marcusi’s video because they watched it on their phones…
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