Checking social media gives you a similar feeling in the same impulsive part of the brain as gambling and substance abuse. Good times right?
Not so, say Tory Bauer and Stefan Hunt.
A 2017 study by the Royal Society for Public Health found nearly 63 per cent of Instagram users report being miserable. So Tory and Stephan have decided it is time to ‘choo the fat’ in the conversation carriage on the Byron Bay Train on 5, 6 and 7 July.
The experience is about ‘disconnecting to reconnect’.
‘Instead of using the journey to look at your social media feed it’s a phone free area’ explains Stefan Hunt.
‘You simply have a conversation with a stranger instead. We provide some questions printed on a postcard and you get chatting about life with your new friend’.
Afterwards there is an opportunity to write your new friend a message on the provided postcard. In the coming months this will be posted to them to remind them of the experience.
‘We want to introduce conversation carriages on public transport worldwide. Where humans rediscover the art of eye contact and chance conversations and encounters with strangers. Or simply getting to know yourself again,’ he said.
Conversation Carriage will be held on every train service during the festival, in the right hand carriage with blue seating. There is no fee other than the $3 fare.
‘The journey that you have on the Byron Bay Train, having a conversation with a stranger could change the course of your life… All aboard.’
Conversation Carriage is part of the We’re All Going to Die Festival. For more about the festival visit www.wereallgoingto.com
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