Screens are not windows (yet?).

The argument is attractive and mighty compelling, but it doesn’t quite capture all the variables necessary to make the case. Simply put, there is something very real and tangible about looking through a window that is lost when viewing the same or comparable image on a screen. The Department of Physics at the University of Central Florida published an interesting paper highlighting the inaccurate representation of the laws of physics in more than a few Hollywood films. Ignoring the fact that a screen is a 2-D snapshot of the real world, the modification of the laws of nature in making images for mass consumption creates a real problem for me. I’m definitely a member of the generation of people who have spent the most time (historically speaking) in front of screens. Televisions, computers, cellphones, I-pods, yadda yadda. Each and everyone has proven itself to be a powerful and valuable tool in and of it’s own right, but the screen to window analogy misconstrues the purpose and utility of such devices. The minute we, as in humanity, forget that screens are not windows, we loosen our grip on our understanding of the world we inhabit. Suspension of disbelief while in a movie theater and permanent suspension of disbelief are two very different things. The case has been made that increasingly larger amounts of screen time have led to the weakened spatial reasoning and mechanical aptitude of entering engineering and physics students. I believe these symptoms (if true) speak to a larger issue. Should we truly aim to replace our real world with a digital copy? I have no doubt we have (or will have) the technology to do so, but I fear that no copy will be truly accurate. Unfortunately, if a copy becomes our reference point, we won’t be able to understand the difference. So for now, a screen is a screen is a screen.

As a quick aside, I think the solution to this dilemma is to never allow technology to replace the natural world, but simply to augment it. We must use all the good technology has to offer to provide a clearer view of the world we live in and never get caught doing the opposite.