Tuesday, August 24, 2010

The Rapid Rise of Visual Culture

Since the invention of television and movies, visual culture has gained dramatic influence. While earlier generations used newspapers and radio, now most "news" has been reduced to a few simple headlines accompanied by pictures, both moving and still.

Indeed, every area of life has bowed to the power of visual culture. Take birth and childhood, for instance. What began as a few baby pictures has now morphed into hundreds of pictures and multiple movies. Unfortunately, the more parents photograph their kids, the less they interact.

Even pregnancy has become visual: couples now expect to see pictures of their unborn babies. The ultrasound, originally a diagnostic tool, has morphed into a form of visual entertainment.

Unaware of the potential for harm, many parents now start young toddlers on a diet of moving pictures. "Baby Einstein" may be a good marketing slogan, but in the long term, interacting with machines more than humans can hamper brain development.

Over-reliance on flashing images also affects social health. Constant gazing at the barrage of visual images that surrounds us weakens imaginative capacity and diminishes the sense of human warmth and community between individuals and within families.

Indeed, many of life's most profound experiences are heard, felt and imagined. Perhaps it's true that seeing is believing, but unless used in moderation, that is not always a good thing.

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