As I wandered through the Galleria Borghese yesterday viewing Bernini, Tiziano, Caravaggio, Raffaello, and other masters of painting and sculptors of the late 16th century I came upon these young people buried in their phones. All of us, me included, can be hypnotized by our phones. A modern day tech/cultural phenomena. There is just no way around it. Steven Jobs invented something 9 years ago this month that we didn’t know we needed and now we can’t live without it. If I think I’ve lost my phone, I have a mini panic attack. Even after polite phone pocketing at formal dinners or at a movie theater the first thing people do is rush outside to check their text messages or Instagram. It’s not a fad. Seems primal. The modern day community campfire. We love to be connected. The paintings in Borghese show this primal nature as well. Almost all the paintings reveal a need for community. In the case of the 16th century all revolving around the Catholic Church. That was 400 years ago. Fast forward 400 years and for sure none of us can imagine. Go even 10 years ahead in your mind and you just can’t. Google info won’t help either. Now in writing this caption I am missing “real life”. Guilty as charged. On my way to catch a train. My ticket is of course on my phone.