The Kingdom Of Paper

A Vision Of The World After A Digital Apocalypse

Pawel Czerwinski on Unsplash

I’ve not learned how to draw; I’ve not learned how to draw; What if you die with all of the cameras?

— Lyrics from the song ‘How To Draw/Petrichor’ by 1975, A Brief Enquiry Into Online Relationships

As unlikely as it may be, indulge me and ask yourself this: how would our world look like if the internet shuts down tomorrow, our cable television doesnt work and we are forced to get rid of our smartphones. Instead, we end up using the phone as it was originally envisioned — to give us a reminder of distance between two loved ones and to talk while imagining what the face at the other end of the line may look like.

We return to an analog world where old school photos are our memories, the written word on a piece of paper our emotions and the absolute pleasure of spending more time with our loved ones our greatest indulgence.

When Steve Jobs was lying in the hospital, he was reminded of a simple truth — all of his money couldn’t buy him good health and the enjoyment of life that good health brings with it. This article uses a story to nudge you to understand that when all else is done, the most precious time we spend on this planet is with our loved ones. Therefore, in our hyperconnected world, the most beautiful crime is to steal time away from our digital devices and to spend it in the company of our loved ones- one less tweet, one less post and one less video at a time.

The Apocalypse So Far

The digital apocalypse, which was triggered by a hitherto unexplained event and has taken out the internet and cable television, hit the world simultaneously at 5 pm on a normal Wednesday evening.

The young children are ok with the apocalypse. Their lives will go on. At their age, they don’t know what narcissism is. At least consciously that is. They can go to school, play with their friends, study from old school books and play some more in the evening.

The teenagers are in shock- no more selfies, videos on TikTok, FaceTime with 30 friends and no more television shows. It’s…