The difference between consuming and creating
A friend of mine the other day had an epiphany that he shared with me, where he put words to something that I have been thinking for a long time but haven’t been able to voice.
He’s been concerned about the screen time for his children. Thus far, it hasn’t been a big problem, although their oldest daughter would watch youtube videos in her room all day if she could. But she hasn’t, as far as I know, been very reluctant to give her iPad up when told to do so.
The epiphany that my friend had was that there’s immense difference in consuming and creating on a tool like the iPad. He’s working from home, and she’s been sitting in his office with him. He sits by a computer, and as to most 8 year olds, it seems unfair that he’s got unlimited screen time with his computer and she doesn’t.
With the tweak of having limited screen time for consuming, she’s incentivised to create with the tool. She loves painting, why shouldn’t she be able to do so with the tool that’s pen and paper on steroids?
The reason to all of this is that we seem to have lost our way around creating things. I can see a big difference between me and my 8 years younger little brother, where he doesn’t create that much at all, but he’s consuming all of the time. When I was playing in the school yard, we created whole worlds out of our own imagination.
The result of the both approaches — creating and consuming — is huge. If you get used to post on social media, you’ll realise that in order for those platforms to work, someone needs to produce. And if that someone can get paid to do it, you’re essentially paying with your time in order for someone else to work.
On top of that, the people who’re more used to consuming will have a harder time, because life isn’t consumption. It’s always in creation. We create the world around us, not the other way around. And if you’re not used to being able to manipulate the media you’re engaged with, you’re going to have a hard time with creating the world around you that you want to see.
