China News 3rd October
Digital addiction is a common ‘disease’ of modern people. The writer, Zu Ming, in Zaobao explores the problem.
Mobile phones are addictive, writers and researchers say. The problem is not people's lack of willpower, although there are thousands of people trying to reduce your self-control behind the scenes. When you can't resist doing something, although it satisfies you for a short time, such a psychological need can cause great long-term harm: this is called addiction. Mobile phone addiction researchers even created a new term "nomophobia" (no-mobile-phobia) to describe the panic caused when their phones are not around.
To get high scores in video games, some young people wear diapers so as not to "lose points" by leaving the game to go to the toilet. Such an intoxication atmosphere in the world of digital video games has led some middle-aged and elderly people to try them too, leading to the emergence of more addicted people. Old, middle-aged, and young people are all addicted to mobile phones. This is indeed worrying.
At work, it is sometimes necessary to contact colleagues or the office when working outside. Mobile phones provide a convenient and low-cost communication channel, which invisibly improves productivity. This is positive.
But everything has pros and cons. When I was eating at a hawker stall, I saw the tea stall selling drinks. There was such a billboard that said, "If there are no guests at work, please don't look at your mobile phone all the time." How the stall mainly manages its employees is a matter of choice, but in the era when there were no mobile phones, such a scenario didn’t exist.
Today, when people are participants of numerous, large and small chat-groups, we can see all kinds of people in groups. Some people forward it to their group without thinking about what they see. The information forwarded may be true or false, and whether it needs to be forwarded is not considered. This is what online information or video producers are most willing to see because they use people's lack of thought and scramble to help them forward information or videos.
There are always several members in any group who forward various medical "discoveries" and "knowledge" about medical treatment and diseases to share with people. Admittedly, there is nothing wrong with the original intention of sharing, but a problem is often ignored: some medical knowledge is produced by content creators. It is unknown whether there is a real basis or professional research. Human life is at stake, and it is not thoughtful to receive all this ‘data’ and forward them without thinking.
"Mobile phone detoxification" reminds people not to be high-tech slaves and review mobile phone applications. They must manage their own digital technology. There are many courses to encourage older people to use mobile phones to deal with various electronic payment, commuting and other consumer transfers, personal data management and the use of learning platforms. However, elders must also be reminded to use their mobile phone properly and avoid overuse. Older or vulnerable people are prone to rampant fraud also. Courses should be more careful to teach them to distinguish between right and wrong information and make good use of mobile phones to avoid falling into traps and harm.
Lifelong learning, learning organizations, learning society are the general trend. However, it is indeed necessary to balance the relationship between individuals, organizations and digital technology, so that when fully using technology, it can also take into account the physical, mental and social health of individuals. Only by finding this balance can we reach the goal of being a free man.
Source: zaobao.com.
A view of the Russia-Ukraine war from the Hong Kong journal HK01
Russian President Putin recently announced partial mobilization, criticizing the West for nuclear extortion against Russia and threatening to use weapons of mass destruction. He said that in protecting the Russian people he would use all means. Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu then added that the mobilization is expected to reach about 300,000 people, involving only military professionals and people with combat experience.
Putin's decision to mobilize, reflecting the pressure on the Russian front line, is the expected result of most military analyses. The war in Ukraine may develop into a long-term issue, deepening the impact on local regions and even the world. If the West continues to expect to weaken Russia through Ukraine, or by force, it may just cause the demise of mankind.
There is no military victory in the nuclear age.
Ukraine counterattacked the Russian army at the beginning of the month and recovered a large area of lost land from Kharkiv on the eastern front. Russia's current troops on the battlefield are not enough to fight against Ukraine, which has resorted to the general mobilization of the whole nation. Therefore, the Russian army chose to retreat instead of defending. But Putin's current military mobilization will change the situation on the battlefield. It is a little impractical to expect Ukraine to drive away Russian troops on the battlefield.
Ukraine has less than 30 million people under its control, while Russia has a population of 144 million. Ukraine has no advantage in terms of mobilization. Even if the West continues to provide weapons, it is likely that the Ukrainians will only fight to the last. Although the West can take advantage of Ukraine to weaken Russia, Ukraine must be the biggest victim. If the Western military is mobilized, it will fight directly against Russia, and Putin has threatened to eventually use nuclear weapons, which means that Russia wants to be invincible militarily. Therefore, trying to use force to resolve disputes with Russia is a foolish act to bet on the future of mankind.
The West must cease its hostility to the Russians.
Objectively speaking, the West has not thought about how to deal with the interests and feelings of the Russian people, and so far, it has only fuelled the fire. Although there are anti-Putin and anti-war voices in Russia, and some people chose to leave after the military mobilization, the Russian state-run polling agency before the mobilization showed that Putin's approval rating was once as high as 80%. Although the numbers are distorted, Putin's support has also increased during his invasion of Georgia in 2008 and Crimea in 2014. It is also true that many Russians feel military hostility to Western countries.
However, Europe and the United States still seem unwilling to believe that the Russian people are worried about national security, and even think that all Russians trust the West very much. Perhaps influenced by the past performance of the people in Eastern Europe during the end of the Cold War, many people in Europe and the United States subjectively believed that Putin, a "dictator", took the Russian people into the war with Ukraine, thinking that they are shaking Putin's support. This is wishful thinking.
To solve the issue, the West must make Russians feel that their country is not threatened. Only when the West puts away hostility and shows goodwill, will Putin's war lose the support of the Russians. This is the way to solve international conflicts, and it is also a way to solve many conflicts - put down hostility and negotiate realistically, to build consensus.
Source: hk01.com.
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