An Embodied vs a Virtual Life

Human beings are meant to live in the physical world. This is how they form meaning and organize their internal experiences: walking barefoot on dirt, chopping wood with an axe, collecting fruits and vegetables from plants and then using fire to cook them. Everyone used to do this. It grounded us.

Reality acts as a natural calibrator that prevents, in most cases, mania or depression from taking root. It does that by providing constant feedback of what is real and true. Emotional disturbances are often rooted in objectively untrue interpretations of human experience that do not confirm with reality. Most of the time, information from the outside world reinforces good mental health. This is particularly true when it involves man’s interaction with nature, which doesn’t care about him one way or the other. Through nature, reality acts as a mirror, one without distortions.

Today, unfortunately, fewer people experience reality sufficiently to ground themselves in truth. Something that wasn’t even possible 100 years ago—living life largely in the virtual world--has now developed into an imbalance that threatens both individual emotional stability and interpersonal relationships. Food is now delivered to our homes in prepared form. We rarely walk outside. We don’t use physical tools to mold our environment to fit our needs. Our increased reliance on devices like cell phones, computers, and tablets has led us to develop a virtual life and caused us to abandon an embodied one. The bulk of our time, energy, and focus during waking hours is directed toward electronics of one kind or another, whether it’s for work, relaxation, or socializing. We no longer live an embodied life.