Apple: the Forbidden Fruit

*Note from the Author: From an angry yogi. Written in one shot, during a sleepless night, while reading The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt.

Every moment, we keep consuming it. Infinite knowledge in the palm of our hand. To the point of losing our common sense. To the point where we no longer look up at the sky to check the weather.

We no longer memorise our routes, preferring to be guided. We turn to Google, to ChatGPT*, rather than sitting with a question, thinking it through, or allowing a mystery to linger.

No. At every moment, we indulge our greed.

We are in a state of indigestion, and yet we keep stuffing ourselves.

Not just with minute-by-minute weather updates or simplified routes. With junk food for the mind. With social media. We are force-fed unsolicited information. Not the kind we actively seek and are ready to absorb, but an endless buffet laid out before us, and we keep tasting everything, all the time.

We are stuffed, and nothing has flavour anymore. We are filled with insomnia, anxiety, guilt. And yet, we keep going, day after day.

I remember when Facebook arrived. The joy of reconnecting with people I once loved, who were far away or had drifted apart. A superficial connection, let’s admit it. But a joyful one—at first.

Then Facebook became a showcase for private lives. I vividly remember scrolling through my phone and feeling like a voyeur.

I didn’t like that feeling.

It was as though someone were stripping naked in front of you, indifferent to whether you felt comfortable witnessing it. My eyes had no choice but to see. My mind had no choice but to take it in. Consent no longer seemed to matter once you logged in.

I closed my Facebook account.

But Facebook carried on and gave birth to countless offspring: Instagram, WhatsApp, LinkedIn, Twitter, TikTok.

Little by little, these platforms normalised the exposure of private lives. And over time, they shaped a generation that believes this is normal. A generation that no longer sees boundaries in what should remain private. A generation that, instead of hunting for its food, is constantly offered an all-you-can-eat buffet.

We consume all day long, effortlessly, without digestion. A superficiality that does not nourish.

Our lives are meant to be lived. To be experienced.

Intelligence is not just in the mind. It is in the body. In physical experience. This is how we gain true knowledge. True wisdom. The kind that comes from having lived it, heard it, breathed it, felt it.

The conclusion is grim.

We are all addicts. All diving into the ease of screens, which do not challenge us, unlike reality. We prefer immersing ourselves in a world that does not frustrate us, but rather that aligns neatly with our beliefs.

No more reflection. No more free will.

We could call it a new religion. A cult. But no one would be offended. On the contrary, we continue to worship the gods of Silicon Valley, making offerings to them:

Our time. Our freedom. Our mental health. Our relationships. Our children…kidnapped.

Technology was created to serve us. But when the roles are reversed, when humans serve the machine, what do we call that?

Like everyone else, I am addicted.

I look at my husband scrolling after dinner. I watch my children disappear into their screens. I pick up my own phone without even deciding to.

We are all addicts. Addicts filled with guilt.

I’ve tried to stop. I relapse. I detox. I relapse again.

I look at the world around me, and I despair.

And yet.

Each time I notice it, I remember: awareness is the crack in the system.

Every moment I choose to look up instead of down, to feel the air, to watch a cloud drift by, I reclaim a piece of myself.

The fruit may be forbidden. But we can still choose how much we bite.

~

Check out Hélène’s previous article on Elephant Journal: 

*Elephant Journal does not platform, or share, or ethically support AI-generated writing, or editing, or art. AI is the opposite of human—and we aim to share human stories and wisdom. Further, it’s bad for our planet, our water, our utility bills, our air, our children’s future. AI is not “a fun tool”: 350+ AI experts (!) call it an existential threat to humanity on the order of nuclear war. AI sucks. We boycott it.