TOPIC TODAY: Are You Present at Your Home or Just "There"? Does your child or partner have to "compete" with a notification or social media posts to get your eye contact? Which "Sacred Context" in your home has been colonised by a screen, and are you brave enough to take it back today? The Big Question: If your child grew up and treated you with the same "mentally absent" attention you give them now, would you feel loved?
The neon sign at Evking’s Bar flickers as the group settles back into their usual corner. The atmosphere is different tonight - usually, the wait for drinks is filled with banter. Still, tonight, three people at the next table are sitting in total silence, each illuminated by the blue glow of a smartphone. Ola starts to pull his phone out to check a score, then catches Nne’s eyes and slowly puts it face down on the table. "I realised something today," Ola says. "I’m physically in my house for five hours before bed, but I’m probably 'present' for about only twenty to thirty minutes. The rest of the time, I'm just a ghost - browsing on my phone or watching TV." JENNIFER: What you’re describing, Ola, is Technoference. It’s the "New Poverty." We used to measure poverty by lack of food or money; now, we measure it by Attention Scarcity. JENNIFER (cont.): When you’re "glued to the device," you become less sensitive to your partner an...