When Image Erases Imagination - Rambling Raconteur

How many times have you heard someone say that they are a visual learner? Perhaps you are the person telling others of your need to engage your eyes to fully comprehend something. Now, you might have heard of the different learning styles: auditory, visual, and tactile. The theory behind these categories seems sound enough, and I think it is likely true that we gravitate toward one learning style over another. But when is the last time someone told you they are an auditory learner? I can’t even recall such a conversation. Somehow, the visual has gained a monopoly over our senses.

Now, it would be logical to point to our phones and blame them for our overreliance on the visual. Our eyes do the heavy lifting in the modern world, constantly weathering the bombardment of images that fly at us through all varieties of digital means. This is certainly a problem, but as with all things, this current situation is propped up by the past.

A potential beginning for the visual craze could be the introduction of a photo in a French newspaper in 1848. This was a popular decision, and by 1900, photos in newspapers were expected rather than cherished. It would certainly be ironic for me to malign the presence of photos in newspapers given the publication I am writing for. That is not my intention, and if it were, you might not be reading this piece. Photos in newspapers elevate the product by helping readers gain a greater understanding of the story. They give us a glimpse into the story that cannot be accomplished with mere words.

The act of adding myriad photos to newspapers is not something I have a problem with, but it reflects a growing trend toward the visual. I do not have any qualms against the visual. I am, in fact, enrolled in a digital broadcasting degree. Strong visuals have an incredible power to reach and influence people. But they are becoming the only thing people care about.

Images, at their core, promote passivity in the human brain. Photos portray something as the human eye would see it. We are effectively told how to think about what’s in the image. Videos follow a similar principle. They are called moving pictures for a reason, as they are comprised of a string of photos. Watching videos only requires a passive brain to receive what the eyes are seeing.

Images have supplanted words as our primary means of communication. The pervasiveness of brainrot and nonsense phrases begins to make more sense in this light. We must see a thing to understand it, so eloquence in speech and writing is beginning to fade. Reading and listening require attentiveness and focus, so when greeted with a long string of text or an academic lecture, our brains instead reach for more passive visual stimulation. Is it any surprise that our minds have grown more fractured and lazy in the digital age?

Our brains become what we train them to be, and the brain of the average American is one that is enslaved to visual media. The ease of consumption is high, so the skill of learning has faded. This is the state of our world today. We have forgotten the kinetic beauty of words. Words are alive in a way images can never be. They hit our brains and stoke wonder and deep contemplation. They stop us in our tracks and arrest us with thoughts of the great majestic things in this world and beyond. They communicate truths about eternity and our purpose on this earth that we could never grasp through simply seeing. Let us learn again to engage with the written word.