{"id":3077,"date":"2026-10-03T23:23:41","date_gmt":"2026-10-03T20:23:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/yalindonusum.com\/?p=3077"},"modified":"2026-10-03T23:23:45","modified_gmt":"2026-10-03T20:23:45","slug":"vizonteleden-sumerlere","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yalindonusum.com\/en\/vizonteleden-sumerlere\/","title":{"rendered":"From Vizontele to the Sumerians"},"content":{"rendered":"

Television arrived, and households grew more isolated.<\/strong>
(Apparently, 45% of households in Sweden consist of just one person.)
Smartphones arrived, and people within the same household grew more isolated.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the old days, people used to visit one another at home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After dinner, we would go to someone\u2019s house, brew tea and chat. The children played in one room while the adults put the world to rights in another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After saying \u201cWe should get going,\u201d we would spend another half hour talking at the door. There was always so much to say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then television arrived.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At first, we gathered at the house in the neighbourhood that had a television. (I remember watching a film starring Orhan Gencebay in a tea garden that seated five hundred people.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then everyone bought their own television and retreated to their own home. \u201cCome over tonight\u201d gradually gave way to \u201cOur series is on tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, we were looking at the same screen in the same house. We laughed at the same film, got angry at the same news and fought over the remote control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then came the not-so-smart phones. On their small, dull screens, we made calls, sent messages and played Snake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the snake hit its own tail, we put the phone down and returned to life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then the screens grew bigger (as did our bellies and hips), and the phones became smarter. Once social media made its way onto them, things really changed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We scrolled and scrolled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We went from a friend\u2019s holiday photograph to a recipe, then to comments on a match. Two cat videos and three conspiracy theories later, we were scrolling all the way back to the Sumerians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now we sit on the same sofa, in different worlds.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI want to tell you something.\u201d
\u201cGo ahead, I\u2019m listening.\u201d
Eyes on the screen. Finger still scrolling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We know what someone on the other side of the world had for breakfast. We only half listen to how the person beside us spent their day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am not excluding myself. I know all too well where I end up after going online \u201cjust to take a quick look.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How about telling someone one weekend, \u201cPut the kettle on; we\u2019re coming over\u201d?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our phones could stay in our pockets. The conversation could go on. And when we leave, we could spend another half hour talking at the door\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No, the Sumerians are waiting.<\/strong> (I saw this while scrolling, too.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article on LinkedIn<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n