A few weeks ago, scores of tourists were seated on sun warmed boulders along the banks of the Lidder River in Pahalgam encircled with one of Kashmir’s most beautiful and breathtaking landscapes: pine forests, snow-capped mountains, the music of rushing water, and the cool mountain breeze. Yet the scene went largely unwitnessed. Instead of looking at the grandeur around them or sharing the moment with one another, many sat in silence, eyes locked onto the pale glow of handheld screens, thumbs dancing endlessly through an endless feed of social media reels. They had journeyed hundreds of kilometres to stand before nature’s masterpiece-only to lose themselves in a digital mirage. It was a quiet reminder of one of the defining paradoxes of our age: the world has never been more connected, yet we have seldom been so absent from the place where we actually are.

This absence has acquired a name. Psychologists call it doomscrolling by which they mean the compulsive habit of endlessly consuming distressing news, social media feeds and short videos long after curiosity has given way to anxiety and fatigue. The term emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the habit has become one of the defining rituals of modern life. What makes doomscrolling remarkable is that it is rarely pleasurable. We unlock our phones to check one message or one headline, only to emerge an hour later unable to remember much of what we have seen. We leave not better informed but inwardly diminished. Technology alone is not to blame. The........

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