Real values and decency are not available in the app store – Guest article by Ralph Hubacher:
The teenager looked in amazement at the farm shop’s refrigerated display case. ‘Where’s the fresh Alpine cheese? There’s only matured cheese from the previous year. What are you doing!’
I was standing a few metres away from him when he complained loudly. My impulse control was failing. ‘Hey master,’ I said to him, ’it’s the end of July, the cows have only been on the alp for a few weeks.’ My comment was met with astonishment. The simple link that it takes a few months from the cows moving up to the alp to the first cheese seemed too challenging for him. His brain was probably conditioned to the consumption mode: ‘Now, always and everywhere’. ‘Life isn’t an app store,’ I said.
In the App Store, you can buy pretty much anything your heart desires in a matter of seconds. Now available from practically anywhere in the world. Available around the clock. Fancy a new game? Voilà! An app to relax? Gladly! Fitness tracker? Sorry, it’ll take a while, but with same-day delivery it’ll be in your letterbox today.
The only problem is that the fitness tracker doesn’t come with fitness. The meditation app contains neither calmness nor serenity. Social networks such as Insta or Facebook may bring likes and attention, but neither real nor trusting friendships. The really important things in life are not available in the App Store. Especially not common sense, decency and respect.
Artificial intelligence will soon be able to answer all questions about appreciation. But what use is that if you don’t feel appreciated in everyday life? What good are 10k+ contacts on social networks if you feel lonely?
Despite all my critical thoughts, I forbid myself from bashing the virtual world. The digital possibilities in everyday life are more than just helpful. They are essential. They even save lives.
Goethe said that what should have an effect on the heart must come from the heart. How right he was. Life is lived forwards in order to understand it backwards.
A cheerful greeting, Ralph Hubacher