A few weeks ago, as we were making our way through the second season of the newest series, I saw an episode that was thought-provoking and, well, disturbing. Disturbing, because its premise didn’t seem too far-fetched from our present “first world problems” society. Allow me to explain.
The Doctor, Rose and Mickey are traveling though space and time in the TARDIS and fall out of the time vortex into a parallel universe (fine, that part’s far-fetched). In this parallel universe, citizens of London are extremely high-tech.
Each person has a set of “EarPods” that look like wireless headphones. They wear them at all times and are instantly linked into a system that allows information to be sent directly to their heads. No reading, no watching, just having information downloaded for them. It’s easy, convenient and ideal for their busy lives. As you can imagine, the system is corrupt and an evil villain uses their dependence on the EarPods to brainwash them into becoming robots. What struck me about this particular two-part episode was not fear of being brainwashed and turned into robots (yet); it was the idea of the EarPods.
The parallel universe people used them for everything – news, weather, entertainment, etc. They never took them off. Does that sound a little familiar?


I’m as guilty as the next person for loving my iPhone. I use it to check email, check the weather, check my grades and share funny YouTube videos when the moment is right. It’s usually within arm’s reach at all times. Is this because I’m a normal 20-something who is plugged into the world around her, or am I that dependent on my phone?
It seems like everything we use is catered specifically to our busy, hectic lives. I have the world at my fingertips when I hold my iPhone. Facebook, for example, allows us to keep in touch with the people we love without actually having to see or speak to them. And how about Google, which recently re-vamped its privacy policy? Google users (like myself) now have the luxury of Google combining data about what the content of his or her emails are, keeping tabs on the YouTube videos they watch and the searches they perform, all for personal convenience. I’m certainly not slamming Google and Facebook, nor am I encouraging everyone to delete everything and stay off the computer. I’m thankful for my Gmail and for being able to keep up with my friends in England and Germany. My point is, to what degree do we rely on these technologies? Do we have power over the things we enjoy, or do they give us the impression that we’re in control while they control our lives because we are hopelessly addicted to them?
I recently watched a Frontline documentary called “Digital Nation.” One of the interviewees talked about her dependence on her Blackberry – saying she couldn’t imagine life without it. Wow. She couldn’t imagine life without her Blackberry – a device she uses for communication and entertainment that will never love her back? Really? I hope she wasn’t serious about that statement. It’s phrases like those that scare me. It makes the fictional world of “Doctor Who” seem not so far away.
Here’s my challenge to you, dear readers. Enjoy your iPhones, make your Facebook page edgy and sensational and relish in Google. But understand that you can, in fact, live without them. See to it that you can. Go for a day or two without being connected to everything all at once. Place your loyalty in those around you – the living, breathing, flesh-and-blood humans who want to invest in you. Be hopelessly addicted to good conversation and friendship. Let your relationships be the things you find hard to imagine life without.