I remember that a rapper on television once said, “If it feels good, do it.” From schools to workplaces, we are told that ordinary negative (负面的) emotions and experiences—fear of failure or sadness over a breakup, maybe—should be treated or removed. Feeling bad is bad.

This is wrong, as was the rapper’s motto. I don’t believe that eradicating bad feelings is the path to a good life. We have an opportunity here to judge the benefits of negative emotions and experiences instead of trying to push them away.

Negative emotions exist to keep us safe. The main negative emotions include sadness, anger, fear and disgust (厌恶). We experienced them in an unconscious way in response to environmental stimuli (刺激). You never say to yourself, Hey, I think I’ll feel afraid now—you just feel it and react with fight or flight, which can save your life. Disgust similarly warns us unconsciously of potential illness.

Negative emotions can also make us more effective in our day-to-day activities. In an article in the journal Psychological Review, two evolutionary psychologists argue that sadness—and even depression—have existed in the face of evolution (进化) because they bring cognitive benefits. Sadness can make us more productive at work by improving focus and helping us learn from mistakes. This is how failure, by means of the resulting negative emotions, can help lead to later success.

Finally, negative emotions make us stronger for when there is a true emergency. Research shows that “stress vaccination training” — in which people learn to cope with anger, fear and anxiety by being brought up to stimuli that cause these feelings — is effective in creating emotional toughness.

In sum, if we want a life full of deep meaning, true love, and emotional strength, it’s going to involve the risk of discomfort, fight and loss. This means there will be sadness, fear, anger and disgust. If we remove negative emotions and experiences from our lives, we will be poorer and weaker for having done so.

The beginning of the 21st century is an era when the human mind has developed into a split screen, with one eye on real space and the other staring at the electronic mirror.

Modern technology has changed the path of time. This morning on a crowded bus I saw people texting, talking over the cell phone, checking e-mail, listening to iPods etc. Digital medium has taken over in the form of blogs. Private lives are increasingly translated into public space. The younger generation has embraced a more transparent lifestyle than older generations, and seems to have a different idea of privacy.

A woman writer like me cannot imagine a day without computers. I no longer write my articles with pens and paper. Instead, I simply write down ideas using the edit functions. The computer helps me correct the spelling and grammar in my writings if any. What a great advantage it is! Skype, chat, and call facilities keep me in touch with friends the world over and it feels like they’re living next door. There of course is the withdrawal (脱瘾期) symptom if I am unable to access my cell phone even for a short while.

A youngster today would prefer downloading books from the net rather than buying them in bookshops. Besides, I see Karishma, a home maker, often checking websites to find resale of apartments in the area of her choice. Her son Arjun is not interested in playing cricket (板球) with his friends on the playground but on his portable play station. Karishma talks about the transformation taking place during her generation. Earlier, she looked forward to watching movies together on the movie channel. “But these days children prefer to enjoy themselves with their numerous electronic goods,” Karishma comments sadly.

The bad side of modern technology is increased loneliness, loss in the number of jobs, and increased dependency on devices leading to reduction in competency and creativity.

Last month, Justin Valdez, a college student, was shot in a subway station in San Francisco. The surveillance video(监控录像) showed that before Justin was killed, the killer pulled out his gun several times, and even wiped his nose with it. However, nobody noticed the killer. The surrounding passengers all focused on their cell phones.

We may see the same scene everywhere in our life: in subway stations, restaurants, elevators and so on, people are watching their cell phones. From a family reunion to a date with a friend, people couldn’t stop checking their twitter and facebook on the cell phones and ignoring the persons in front completely, Phubbing(低头症) not only involves young people, but also the elderly and kids.

“Phubbing” is a new term which comes from the words“phone” and “snub”(冷落). It describes the habit of snubbing someone in favor of a cell phone. The word “phubbing” was included in the Australian National Dictionary in 2012. Obviously, the indifference (冷漠) and rudeness of the information age are spreading globally.

A Stop Phubbing campaign website has been set up. You can find the slogan of the website as follows: “stop twittering, stop posting photos…enjoy your food, enjoy the music and respect others.”

Phubbing appears harmless. However, it does influence our life. Jimmy, an epicure(美食家), wrote in his blog: “I can no longer focus on what I am eating since I started twittering. My skill of food photography has improved very fast, while my interest in food drops as a result.” Let us put down our cell phones and re-enjoy the real taste of our food and the warmth of interpersonal communication.