Editor’s note: This commentary is by Matt Fisken, who is an at-home dad, electromagnetic field consultant and native Vermonter who lives in central Pennsylvania. He enjoys gardening and finding areas with no cell service, also known as “white zones.”
[I] don’t claim to be an expert at Pokémon Go. In fact, I’ve never played the game before. Actually, I don’t even own a smartphone that can run the popular app. But everywhere I go, I see people playing it, walking around aimlessly, paying very little attention to their surroundings. To me, these “players” appear to behave like zombies, staggering into places they wouldn’t normally go, craning their heads and contorting their limbs, while holding their virtual viewers in an effort to capture those elusive little monsters.
One thing few Americans remember is that Pokémon was the center of an “attack” on the citizens of Japan nearly two decades ago, sending hundreds to the hospital and affecting more than 10,000 others with a variety of ailments. In December 1997, the infamous Episode 38 (Dennō Senshi Porygon or Electric Soldier Porygon) of the popular animated television show aired, during which a short scene with red and blue flashing lights caused many children watching to have vision problems, become nauseous, go into a trance, or in some cases completely pass out. While it became widely accepted that this particular sequence triggered “photosensitive epilepsy” in some of its viewers, there is still debate over what really happened. Maybe it was all just a case of mass hysteria, spread by hasty news coverage of the event, causing children to report being affected through the power of suggestion. However, this explanation seems too far fetched, given the fact that so many children were hospitalized the night of the live broadcast, with no knowledge of the other victims. They all pointed to the same scene as the catalyst.
Most likely, this “Pokémon shock” keyed into a specific spectrum of color and flashing cycles (hertz) causing some people to have acute responses, the same way that certain chemicals, infra- or ultrasonic sounds, or manmade electromagnetic radiation can cause incredible responses in a minority of the population who are either more sensitive, aware or have pre-existing medical conditions. The fallout was severe at first with the show being pulled from the air and Nintendo adding disclaimers to its Pokémon video games stating that players should be cautious and stop playing if they don’t feel well. Eventually, the fuss blew over and our world has become ever-more flashy and screen-based since.
It’s likely that those affected were the proverbial coal mine canaries, foreshadowing our current dystopia in which most people appear to be transfixed by their personal screens in a catatonic state of constant stress, blurred vision, headaches, nausea and being admitted to the hospital for reasons that most doctors can’t explain. Considering that the American Medical Association now recommends people limit their exposure to certain types of light at night, it should be safe to assume we are all affected on some level by the light (and invisible electromagnetic radiation) emitted by video displays. Even Apple now includes a “Night Shift Mode” on its iOS operating system, responding to years of consumer demand.
Potentially, a more serious issue with the technology that enables people to play Pokémon Go is one must carry a two-way microwave transmitter everywhere they go and leave its antennas on all the time. From a public health perspective, this is akin to requiring people to smoke cigarettes while they exercise. The 3G, 4G and Wifi signals that bounce between cell towers, routers, smartphones and tablets just happen to be sent in modulated bursts, or pulses, not unlike the strobing imagery known to cause biological reactions. Instead of affecting the brain only through the eyes though, wireless radiation penetrates the body (more so in children) and can directly disrupt brain activity, the nervous system and cardiological rhythms, even at night while a person is asleep next to a wireless device powered on.
With 5G signals just around the corner (using high frequency transmitters on every block and back road), could we be rapidly approaching the fabled technological singularity when we all snowball into an Internet-of-Things era of collective electronic nirvana?
Two months ago, it was reported that Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) alerted the maker of Pokémon Go (Ninantic) that the game’s monsters were appearing in or near the tsunami-damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Now, officials from four of Japan’s prefectures, including Fukushima, are asking the game
to add “Gyms” and “Pokéstops” to these areas in the hopes that it will increase tourism. Once again, after an initial and appropriate alarm concerning health-threatening radiation exposures, Japan is giving the “all clear” in an effort to boost its economy and feed our addiction to being distracted by tiny screens and fantasy, augmented realities.
It’s impossible to know where this is all heading. With 5G signals just around the corner (using high frequency transmitters on every block and back road), could we be rapidly approaching the fabled technological singularity when we all snowball into an Internet-of-Things era of collective electronic nirvana? Or will some future iOS or Pokémon Go update send us all screaming into the future thanks to an unintended electromagnetic field zombie pulse like the one in Stephen King’s 2006 novel and 2016 film, “Cell”?
Donning a tin-foil hat is the default tongue-in-cheek advice certain skeptics provide for navigating this techno-narcissistic age we currently inhabit, but there are far more effective ways to maintain one’s sanity and health in a world gone wireless. Our family recently got rid of our television, although we still watch movies on a 17-inch computer monitor (making sure my son isn’t sitting too close). We use ethernet cables to connect our computers to the internet and our “laptops” almost never sit on our laps. We even ditched our cell phones six years ago and have hardly missed them since. These “sacrifices” aren’t as difficult as they might sound.
The reality is that there is so much to do outside, away from screens and the constant allure of the newest smartphone or social media platform. Make no mistake, these devices are addictive, but it’s never too late to take that tablet away from your child and replace it with a book to read, a bicycle to ride, or a garden to tend. See how many days you can go without looking at your phone, or at least keeping it in airplane mode. You might rediscover some of the things you’ve been missing — improved relationships, calmer thoughts, and a better night’s sleep, to name a few.
To borrow a quote from the 1971 animated television show The Lorax
(one of my son’s favorites):
“I speak for the trees and I yell and I’ll shout,
for the fine things on Earth that are on their way out.
They say I’m old fashioned and live in the past,
but sometimes I think progress progresses too fast.”
