Mike Tyson-Jake Paul boxing bout exposed America’s unhealthy digital addictions | Opinion
The Tyson fight is here and gone, but the never-ending stream of digital distractions soldiers on. Even the most exciting sporting events have become just another hit.
I wanted to believe there were a few explosives left in those signature black gloves. We all did.
On Nov. 15, as Netflix buffered incessantly, Iron Mike Tyson hopped and limped around the ring with marketing genius Jake Paul.
The lethal right hook to the body, right uppercut to the head combo never materialized. We knew the unflinching realities of time, but we wanted the fantasy.
In the end, I just wanted more. In the moment, I saw how easily periodic escapes from reality have become a permanent cultural vacation.
In “Leviathan,” philosopher Thomas Hobbes argues that our natural human state is “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.” Those of us with modern sensibilities might wonder why Hobbes didn’t add “boring” and “slow” to the list.
Prior to the 20th century, life simply was. With the exception of human imagination, nothing existed to compare it against. Our ancestors would have considered people mentally defective if they spent hours every day comparing their actual lives against those they could possibly be living.
A few hours cutting and splitting firewood reminded me of the bizarre place our culture currently occupies against the backdrop of human history. Dripping with sweat, sawdust, and mud, my son stated the obvious, “Dad, I’m really glad that we don’t have to do this to stay alive.”
Turning the white ash tree trunk into firewood gave us both an appreciation for our home’s modern stove and central heating unit.
For several hours, neither of us had time to consider whether our lives were particularly stimulating because we had to complete our task before the sun went down.
The decreased daily physical burden has given us more time to fight disease, reduce poverty, develop artistic wonders, and travel to the stars with varying degrees of success. Now, we’re efficiently building machines that alleviate the challenge of thinking, solving, and creating.
Hobbes thought we’d run to the government to address our fears, but we’ve done so much more. We’ve removed existential resistance to the point where the difference between fantasy and reality is simply a matter of where we spend our time. Between email, social media, the perpetual news cycle, pornography, and entertainment, the only time we need to break contact with our digital alternatives is when we’re asleep.
Netflix delivered a knockout for its voracious streamers
When it came to the tilt between Tyson and Paul, I bit on the hype – hook, line, and sinker.
The reality of an actual prize fight is much different. It’s years of exhaustive training and nutritional discipline to step into the ring against a quality opponent with only a chance at success.
Most folks simply don’t have the constitution to do that time and again before getting a chance to do it professionally.
Why put in the work for anything in life when satisfying distractions abound?
Each and every digital product around us is designed to deliver a stream of quick dopamine hits to our brains. Dopamine is a neurochemical transmitter which essentially motivates us to seek out and maintain pleasurable stimuli.
Most of us follow the path of least resistance to secure those positive feelings. We also experience a corresponding dopamine dip when the stimulation is over that we don’t enjoy.
The Tyson fight is here and gone, but the never-ending stream of digital distractions soldiers on. Even the most exciting sporting events have become just another hit. Have you noticed the proliferation of gambling around sports?
We’re just addicts who need the distraction to be ever more intense to maintain the high.
