There is a very human tendency to equate size with value. Take the thirty five-inch TV screen in my living room, for example. Before I bought this screen, I viewed all things digital – movies, websites, photos, etc. – on my eleven inch netbook. There was never any point at which the netbook screen was too small; after all, I’m not reviewing detailed documents or editing high-resolution photos. Despite the adequacy of the laptop, I was under the distinct impression that my life would be much better if I had a larger screen.
Well, now I have that larger screen. Oddly, life doesn’t seem remarkably better because of it. The extra size does make it easier to share the screen with others, but otherwise my view is virtually the same. When using the TV, I sit across the room from it, which means it takes up roughly the same amount of my vision as the netbook would. This also limits my uses to watching video, since I’m out of reach of the keyboard.
True to my nature, I’m still tempted to think that this screen isn’t quite big enough. If only it was fifty inches, life would be noticeably better. Seventy five would be euphoric. Never mind the fact that I rarely use the screen I have now; it’s too much of a pain to plug the netbook in and get it all set up. Something, somewhere in my mind, tells me that bigger is always better.
Too often, we attribute fulfillment to physical objects, like my TV screen. Not surprisingly, that fulfillment rapidly vanishes after we acquire those objects, and transfers on to bigger, more expensive things. Fortunately, we’re far more fulfilled by the intangible things in life, like giving someone a hug. Thanks for reading!