I didn’t download FaceApp, the hottest “make yourself look old” mobile phone application.
And it wasn’t Russian data hacks that kept me from joining in. FaceApp experienced minor backlash when it was revealed the company behind the app is from St Petersburg. Look, if you use any social media today, you’re always sacrificing privacy. I’m far more concerned about Mark Zuckerberg misusing my data than Vladimir Putin, so the Russians didn’t frighten me.
I didn’t download FaceApp because I already recognize the inevitability it asks us to envision.
I’ve come to grips with the fact that one day I’ll (hopefully?) grow old and then I will die. I’m not trying to be morbid, but death is my future. But rather than be paralyzed by it, this idea drives me when I wake up in the morning. Each day is one day closer to my last. Instead of squandering it, I try to make the most of it as time is our most precious commodity.
Not everyone shares this perspective, but maybe this is where FaceApp could prove helpful. We’re fascinated with seeing ourselves as old people because we have a disconnect with the future; we have no idea what it looks like. But an image of our older selves gives us a glimpse of this. And that can be powerful.
It can be motivating. What if you printed out a couple of your old geezer FaceApp pics and laminated them? Then you kept a picture of your old self by your work station or in your car or by your bathroom mirror. Would that be enough to move you to make the most of every minute?
Philosopher Søren Kierkegaard believed that the key to life is, "to find a purpose, whatever it is that God wills me to do, to find a truth which is true to me, to find the idea which I am willing to live and die for." Author Stephen Covey encouraged people to, “begin with the end in mind."
Would seeing a picture of your older self be enough to change the way you view today?