Between the cold blue light and the warm light of the soul: a reflection on technology, empathy, and the essential.
By M. J. Ruiz
HoyLunes – We live in a world that moves far too fast. We hardly ever stop to notice who passes by; and if we do, it is only to judge their outfit, the phone they carry, or their physical appearance.
In that constant rush, authenticity fades away.
We want everything, discard everything, consume without pause. Fashion, the latest technology, the blue light of screens that traps us and plunges us into digital universes that devour entire hours. Everything seems within reach of a fingertip, but in reality, we drift away from what truly matters—and nothing fulfills us.
The truth is different: each image, each video, each post on social media receives only a few seconds of our attention. Seconds of life. That is what we have reduced the existence of millions of beings to: fragments of time trapped in a cold, soulless device that steals our gaze and disconnects us from the essential. And so we continue, adrift, leaving empathy behind, consumed by a “self” that feeds on loneliness and isolation.
Is this a calculated plan by those in power, a strategy to keep us docile, anesthetized? We witness violence daily, so much that the pain projected on screens no longer tears us apart; we have lost the capacity to feel. The more passive we are, the easier we are to control. Less willpower, less social engagement, more injustice, less struggle.
Here we reach the key point: what kind of education are future generations receiving?
What relationship are they building with their environment, with other members of society, and with the animals that inhabit this world with them? The way they answer these questions will define not only their future but also ours.
And here arises another challenge: technology. We cannot simply place it in the hands of children and young people without prior preparation.
Parents and guardians must take responsibility for guiding them, for teaching them to use it with awareness, discernment, and humanity. Its use should be directed toward improving our living conditions, developing our knowledge, and expanding our imagination in efficient and productive ways.
Education must strengthen subjects such as civics and ethics, and restore memory as a fundamental tool for developing empathy: remembering makes us sensitive to the suffering of others, connects us with the stories of others, and teaches us to act with responsibility and justice. Memory is not nostalgia; it is the compass that guides us through life.
The animals. Law 7/2023, of March 28, on the protection of animal rights and welfare recognizes companion animals as sentient living beings, granting them a legal status comparable to that of family members. But unlike other family members, they do not have guaranteed access to medical insurance for their care. How is it possible that they are denied even the most basic protections?
This is an inconsistency in a society that boasts of progress, often as an electoral slogan.
Statement: animals are not toys. They are not the whim of a child tired of interacting with machines, weary of overprotection, spoiled by having everything, and feeling the need to dominate something alive. Fortunately, few adults still allow such neglect toward those who are now considered family members. But for all those who have yet to understand the seriousness of their spoiled children’s actions, let me say: the law protects animals just as it protects your offspring, and you would do well to consume less materialism and more solidarity.
New generations grow up immersed in a muddle of ideologies, pretenses, and contradictions. They learn to desire whatever is supposed to make them happy in seconds, until one day they grow up and come face to face with reality. And then comes frustration, emptiness, the disorders born from failing to plant deep and firm roots and values in time.
I realize something: they are more selfish, less empathetic, and indifferent to the pain of others. Thus they become pieces in a game designed by some to subdue us.
The question we must all ask ourselves arises: what kind of society are we building?
Who are we, really? What makes us unique, what sets us apart, is the soul. And yet, too many lives today walk without it—empty, trapped in the illusion of being what they are not.
Animals possess a pure soul. A soul that does not need appearances to be happy, that gives love unconditionally, that feels compassion and recognizes the pain of another. With every gesture, they remind us what it truly means to be human.
Perhaps the answer lies there: in returning to the origin. In going back to the root of the simple, the true, the unadorned. The path of salvation does not lie in more technology or more noise, but in returning to the essence, where the light of the soul still beats—not the cold blue light of screens.
Change begins with us. If we learn to see with the heart, to value what truly matters, to listen more and judge less, we can build a more human world. A more conscious world, fuller of life, where souls awaken and recognize each other.
Let us not wait for others to teach us how to feel. Let us not allow hurry, noise, and superficiality to extinguish our inner light.
Each gesture of empathy, each conscious decision, each act of respect and love is a step toward that society we can still create. A world where life, in all its forms, is respected and celebrated, and where our humanity is measured by what we give, not by what we accumulate.
Let us return to the essential. Let us return to ourselves. And from there, let us transform the world.
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