The Conversation

Child 1: Give me that doll please.

Child 2: Here you go.

Child 1: Do you see those miserable adults?

Child 2: Yeah. Their faces are so glum. You refuse to eat your veggies or something?

Child 1: Of course not, my mom says that broccoli makes you as strong as spiderman. I’m a good listener.

Child 2: That’ll be us soon.

Child 1: In like twenty years. We’re only three.

Child 2: Time passes fast, we’ll forget all about this moment before we even realise it.

Child 1: My memory is strong, I still have faint recollections of the womb. Warm and safe. Life’s biggest disappointment is being forced out.

Child 2: Memory is a fickle thing. It’s not a human’s companion but it’s foe - makes us miss the past with an ache so terrible that it hurts. That’s why they have those forlorn expressions.  

Child 1: Those adults? 

Child 2: No glimmer in their eyes!

Child 1: No glow in their face!

Child 2: Perhaps they feel like that because they haven’t indulged in the joys of building a lego castle in a long time.

Child 1: Perhaps…

Child 2: One day, we’ll be in a hurry to be like them.

Child 1: The future’s coming soon! Its insidious fingers are creeping towards us, my stuffie told me. I can feel its tendrils of monotony - soon, they will begin to haunt us. 

Child 2: Is it awful to say I’m afraid? This intangible concept, this strange something that cannot be controlled. Time. We have no power, no authority when it comes to the passage of life. One can only sit and pray that fate treats them kindly.

Child 1: Fate? What nonsense! Life is life. We control what happens to us, not the ridiculous notion of fate. That’s why they look so sad. They could’ve done better, they just didn’t try as hard as they wished.

Child 2: You’re hard on them now, but just you wait. You’ll be like that soon enough.

Child 1: Not if I remember. If I never forget.

Child 2: That won’t happen. If we remembered moments like these, we’d chase after dreams like wandering particles of dust. Aimless and drifting. 

Child 1: I won’t forget.

Child 2: We’ll see then.

Child 1: What story should we give to this doll? 

Child 2: She’s a mermaid. She braves the terrible deep seas and swims with the fish in the dark depths of the waves. 

Escaping The White Rabbit

Social media is a disease. A disease that is taking its toll on my generation, and may very well change the fate of the human race forever. The truth is, we’ve been scammed. Social media was supposed to revolutionize relationships, connect us in ways we’d never felt before and create communities for the friendless. Instead, the virtual world has become a breeding ground for mental illness, brainrot and propaganda. 

When’s the last time you felt happy or satisfied after putting your phone down? Has scrolling ever truly bettered your day? Each time I open social media, I am bombarded with a barrage of impending genocides, starving children and lying politicians. Oh, and the occasional cat running away from a cucumber. 

Social media is a particularly evil drug because it targets young people so insidiously. We’re at a vulnerable age where peer validation is extremely important, and our brains are more malleable, inclined to believe the lies content creators tell us. 

On the subject of lies, I’d argue that social media is reinventing the way that information is transmitted and passed around. As Noah Yuval Harris, the celebrated author of ‘Sapiens’, has said, we live in a post truth era. Nowhere is this truer than on Instagram, YouTube or TikTok, apps that are filled to the brim with AI ‘slop’, which is getting harder and harder to identify, especially for older people. AI generated photos, videos and even news reports are instrumental in the rise of misinformation, and we are quickly learning that we simply can’t believe our eyes anymore. 

Moreover, social media fuels short attention spans and sucks your time away. Of course, good old fashioned procrastination isn’t exactly unique to our generation. But while reading a book, participating in your hobbies or hanging out with friends has at least some type of cognitive benefit, scrolling is just unhealthy. Although “brain rot” has become a popular slang word, its meaning is quite literal - this content is decaying our brain, giving out pumps of adrenaline like a salesperson giving out free samples. Only in this dubious metaphor, the samples are filled with heroin, forcing us to come back again and again. 

Additionally, constant stimulation from our screens means that we’ve forgotten how to be bored. True, it’s a common phrase trilled by parents and teachers, but it’s unfortunately quite accurate. Phone time seems to be the automatic go to whenever there’s a moment of inactivity, the faint possibility of boredom being banished by continuous content. 

Recently, Social Media has spit out two memes that I feel depict our current situation. Firstly, the white rabbit. You know what I’m talking about. That funky Alice in wonderland rabbit with an eerily realistic eyeball glaring accusingly at the viewer, furred fingers pointing at a ticking pocket watch. Interpretations of the meme vary, though the general understanding is that it translates to “time is running out”. To me, it symbolizes the trap that social media has become - stealing time you could be putting towards something productive. The average individual born in 2025 is projected to spend 9 to 21 years on their phone. 21 years! That’s enough time to raise a child and send them packing off to university. 

Then there’s ‘six seven.’ Of course it’s funny - but have you ever asked yourself why? Its origin story is a confusion of a basket player’s height and rap songs, but at the bottom line, it literally doesn’t mean anything. And that’s precisely why it’s so popular among kids. In a way, it feels like it represents the epitome of our disillusionment, our cognitive disintegration as the first generation to grow up surrounded by digital screens. Much like skibidi-toilet, it’s an expression of silliness but also of…nothing. And that’s exactly what we’re growing up to be.

I come from an empty generation. A generation that has had hope and expectation stripped away with every doomsday influencer, every unhealthy comparison and every bigoted podcaster. It’s not fair to blame us for the selfish agendas of mega corporations, selling our attention to advertisers for extra cash. 

And they certainly teach them young. It is abhorrent that there is such a concept as an iPad kid. When did it become acceptable to rear your children on a steady diet of electronics, instead of picture books and sock puppet shows? Sense Media says that 40% of children have an iPad before they turn two. Yes, it’s exhausting to be a parent. But don’t foist an iPad iPad on your kids as an easy way to get them off your back. 

What matters is doing something about this, not just complaining. We cannot let ourselves be lulled into a trance and zombified by these little glowing screens. We have to remember that WE have the power - we can choose to leave the app, block that website, or just turn the screen off. Don’t let yourself become a vessel. Governments and institutions will try to turn you passive and complacent, and try to fly outright corruption, the global warming crisis, wars, and unethical AI use over your head. Is that the future you want?

No one is asking you to become a political activist, or to throw your phone off a cliff. But think before you scroll. Why not read instead? Go for a walk? Swim? Listen to music? Bake some cookies? 

And when you do use your phone, use it as a medium of communication, as a tool to organise real life activities, instead of treating it as an activity by itself. Meet up with people, call your long distance friends, organise a bakesale or a communal run.

Social Media will only be a disease if you let it be. Bend it to your will, and you will realize that you were in control all along. 

Sources: 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/danidiplacido/2025/10/16/the-white-rabbit-ticking-clock-meme-explained/

https://eyesafe.com/lifetimeofscreentime/

https://www.coolmindshk.com/en/the-social-dilemma-a-summary/

Pandora's Box

In ancient Greece, there are over 1000 myths and legends but the one that remains the most powerful of all is the story of Pandora’s Box

In ancient Greece, long before smartphones or class presentations, the Gods or Olympians ruled from the mighty Mount Olympus. Prometheus, a genius titan (The Albert Einstein of the Gods), felt terribly sad for the poor humans shivering in the cold, dark world without fire. So, he sneaked into Hephaestus’s workshop (Hephaestus was the God of fire, craftsmen and much more), snatched a flaming torch and gifted it to us - BOOM! A world filled with joy, warmth and cozy nights was born.

Zeus, the king of the Gods, fumed. “Punish those mortals and the person who caused it all”, he bellowed. First, he ordered Prometheus to be chained to a rock where an eagle would eat his liver daily (Ouch!). Not once, not twice but for eternity! His liver regrew every day and a cycle formed. Eventually, Prometheus was saved from his torment by Hercules, a long time later, but that’s not where we’re going. Then, for those pesky humans, Zeus cooked up something sneakier: Pandora, the first woman to ever exist.

Hephaestus molded and created her from the earth and water, like living clay. Athena (the Goddess of wisdom and handcraft) draped her in shimmering robes and taught her how to weave. Aphrodite (the Goddess of love and beauty) sprinkled in beauty and charm. Hermes (the messenger of the Gods) added clever words and a pinch of curiosity. She was perfect! Finally Zeus handed her a gleaming jar (we call it a box now) sealed tight. “Deliver this to Epimetheus, Prometheus’s brother,” he said with a wink. “But whatever you do, never look inside!”

Pandora met Epimetheus, fell in love with him (of course!), married him and lived happily ever… wait, that is not how it goes at all! Let’s rewind, they lived happily in a cozy home, tending to gardens and chatting happily, but the jar just sat there, whispering temptations. “What’s inside?” Pandora wondered. “Gifts from the gods? Sweets? Treasures?”. Her fingers itched to see the inside. 

Some time later, when Epimetheus had left their house for work, all alone in the hut, she just couldn’t resist. Before she knew it, the lid creaked open (Bad move.)... And WHOOSH! Out fell a black cloud of pure horrors: disease buzzing like wasps, misery slighting like snakes, greed with sharp claws, jealousy hissing, lies with oily wings. They swirled through the window, spreading through the world in a few seconds. Suddenly, humans coughed and ached, fought over food and grumbled nonstop. Pandora slammed the lid shut, regretting that cursed decision but it was too late - the world had been cursed. 

She wept and wept but heard a noise, she peeked in the box and saw a tiny glowing spark named Elpis - Hope. Pandora trapped it safe. Zeus had planned it all. Evils roam free to test us, but hope always stays in our grasp, ready to light the way.

From then on, when sickness struck or wars raged on, humans always remembered Pandora’s box. They endured, invented, loved and dreamed, powered by that glowing spark. 

Hope helps us fight all our terrors and fears, one day at a time.