LJ Idol - Week [13] - The End of Humanity
Jun. 29th, 2014 03:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
penpusherHumanity will end. And we just might live to see it.
Well, maybe that’s not phrased correctly. Maybe humanity has already ended. The elements that have, for so long, been the definition of that word, have eroded, evaporated, been excised.
The two most important planks that have been diminished in this way are so basic and so obvious, we have to wonder how we allowed it to happen. And yes, we are partners in our own demise when it comes to this. The first element is communication.
The simple act of expressing one's thoughts and feelings to another person has become challenging, even mountainous. And there’s been a rocky reception when it comes back down to earth. It’s easy to understand why: we have, in great measure, taken to texting as the standard for expressing ourselves. Social media. When everything you talk about has to be 140 characters or less, there’s just not that much to say.
Then there’s what we are saying. Just what are the trending topics? Pop stars, pets, porn. Not a lot of material that is very deep or helps to define the direction we should be going as a species.
Ever since the first emails, we have known that the inflections, the facial expressions, those visual and auditory cues of the speaker/writer are not there for the listener/reader. Emoticons are only so helpful. This is not to say that using these methods of communicating are negative unto themselves, but the misunderstanding gap seems to be expanding. Devices that light up and make cute noises when you get a message; they make you want to ignore the person you’re having dinner with and just play with your phone.
And ignoring the person you’re with, well, that makes a statement too. And maybe that’s the loudest commentary of all, because, in a great way, that leads to the other element that has been reduced over time: caring for others.
You can see it in everything. How businesses treat their employees. How industries treat their customers. How the wealthy treat the downtrodden. There is a clear lack of caring. Everything is focused on the self. But, again, it is easily understood. When people’s needs aren’t being met, it’s difficult to offer up the sort of support that others need. And more and more people are getting less and less help.
It’s pretty obvious that all humans are not going to agree on all things, as many things that are positives for some will have a negative impact on others. And that’s where the communication and the caring that are slipping away will play their part. If someone is stating that they are being harmed, being victimized, being marginalized by others, we must hear them. The problem is that too often, messages that don’t want to be heard by some are ignored. And isn’t that what the distractions are all about?
We want to look away from the problems because we demand our world to be what we want it to be, not what’s actually there. And in some cases, we don’t want to deal with elements that we can’t change on our own.
But that’s the fallacy of what we’re discussing. Of course we can’t change these issues by ourselves; we have to do it with each other. However, we will never succeed if we are standing, singularly, refusing to cooperate, demanding our own personal way at the expense of all else.
Any hope of sparing humanity, if there still is any hope, is within each other. Using communications devices to communicate, and caring what the message is.
Well, maybe that’s not phrased correctly. Maybe humanity has already ended. The elements that have, for so long, been the definition of that word, have eroded, evaporated, been excised.
The two most important planks that have been diminished in this way are so basic and so obvious, we have to wonder how we allowed it to happen. And yes, we are partners in our own demise when it comes to this. The first element is communication.
The simple act of expressing one's thoughts and feelings to another person has become challenging, even mountainous. And there’s been a rocky reception when it comes back down to earth. It’s easy to understand why: we have, in great measure, taken to texting as the standard for expressing ourselves. Social media. When everything you talk about has to be 140 characters or less, there’s just not that much to say.
Then there’s what we are saying. Just what are the trending topics? Pop stars, pets, porn. Not a lot of material that is very deep or helps to define the direction we should be going as a species.
Ever since the first emails, we have known that the inflections, the facial expressions, those visual and auditory cues of the speaker/writer are not there for the listener/reader. Emoticons are only so helpful. This is not to say that using these methods of communicating are negative unto themselves, but the misunderstanding gap seems to be expanding. Devices that light up and make cute noises when you get a message; they make you want to ignore the person you’re having dinner with and just play with your phone.
And ignoring the person you’re with, well, that makes a statement too. And maybe that’s the loudest commentary of all, because, in a great way, that leads to the other element that has been reduced over time: caring for others.
You can see it in everything. How businesses treat their employees. How industries treat their customers. How the wealthy treat the downtrodden. There is a clear lack of caring. Everything is focused on the self. But, again, it is easily understood. When people’s needs aren’t being met, it’s difficult to offer up the sort of support that others need. And more and more people are getting less and less help.
It’s pretty obvious that all humans are not going to agree on all things, as many things that are positives for some will have a negative impact on others. And that’s where the communication and the caring that are slipping away will play their part. If someone is stating that they are being harmed, being victimized, being marginalized by others, we must hear them. The problem is that too often, messages that don’t want to be heard by some are ignored. And isn’t that what the distractions are all about?
We want to look away from the problems because we demand our world to be what we want it to be, not what’s actually there. And in some cases, we don’t want to deal with elements that we can’t change on our own.
But that’s the fallacy of what we’re discussing. Of course we can’t change these issues by ourselves; we have to do it with each other. However, we will never succeed if we are standing, singularly, refusing to cooperate, demanding our own personal way at the expense of all else.
Any hope of sparing humanity, if there still is any hope, is within each other. Using communications devices to communicate, and caring what the message is.
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no subject
Date: 2014-07-02 07:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-07-03 12:37 pm (UTC)Thanks for commenting and for some worthwhile points!
no subject
Date: 2014-07-15 06:00 am (UTC)Not at all -- consider the advent of factories to replace home production. They were horrible, terrible places to work -- but they gave us unions and the concept that many powerless people working together had enough power to challenge the few with true power. Today we see that same concept in Kickstarter campaigns, grassroots charity events, and customer feedback surveys.
Technology has always had a downside for every upside. It's up to us to learn how to use it! And I think, as many people as do see the downside to being more gadget-focused than person-focused, that this is one that we as a society will master relatively quickly. It's not, really, been all that long since the Internet took off; and we're already seeing "unplug days" and sites designed to let people use this global technology specifically to connect locally.
You're welcome! It's an interesting discussion. :)