I have been doing some reading on different time periods in order to get a feeling for what different decades were like before the 1920's. I'm working
on the late 1800's now, so I don't know much -
But I do know a few things.
Reading books from the 1800's made me realize that they are very well thought-out and often much more dense
with ideas and references to events at the time than books we read these days.
I read a preface to The Communist Manifesto written in 1880's by Engels, and they were distributing that thing to the factory workers. Marx thought
that the factory workers back then would hold conversations about his philosophy while socializing, and he was right. It is true that kind of dialogue
is held here on ATS - and thank goodness, for there is no where else I can find to participate in it.
But that is different than holding those kinds of conversations in person... and could you find a random co-worker these days willing to discuss
something like advanced political philosophy?
I just recently read an editorial by someone who described how, when he had to do his fiction writing on a typewriter, he had to think of the story in
his head ahead of time.
I think this processing of ideas in the mind is an essential part of higher thinking - people these days tell me just to start
writing, and see where it goes - well, my personal opinion is that it is not as thought-out if you do that.
The next point I am going to make has to do with socializing, and it started happening around 2001 but got worse once Facebook was invented in 2005
and people started using the internet and losing their attention spans, and ultimately, at least some of their ability to use higher level thinking
skills.
This also resulted in is people becoming acquaintances and
meaningful friendships or relationships disappearing over time. . Here
is one article from Psychology Today to read:
The Effect of Technology on
Relationships
This has been accelerating. I remember in 2008, it was getting harder to get people to plan ahead because they were always doing things in the moment.
Back then, though, there were time periods where a bunch of my friends would get together and hang out doing our own thing.
This is best described in this video JiggerJ was kind enough to share with me:
One thing I notice the most about this, which is described in JiggerJ's video, is the fact that people don't have to listen to you if you text or IM
them - this means that pretty much everyone will experience being rejected at some point while trying to communicate, and as this goes on over time,
they could lose the ability to communicate effectively, or the willpower to.
And, since I recently added dating sites to my limited list of "Things I Don't Like" I would like to toss this out there - don't use them. This has
nothing to do with bitterness towards females, but research by OkCupid suggests that girls are getting up to 100's of messages to their inbox every
week, while guys may not even see a reply for a year or more. I have also found that with ready access to guys, girls who you find on a dating website
may easily stop talking to you and start talking to someone else, etc. etc. etc. cycle cycle cycle.
But I must stop with that somewhat irrelevant tangent and get on with the point. Now most of my friends are only willing to talk for about 60 seconds
or less on the phone at a time, or send two words of text per day, that kind of thing. They are not willing to commit to conversations longer than 2
word text messages, a few sentences of IM, or meeting to hang out in-person at all.
That doesn't seem sustainable. In fact, it is possible that with each new generation of youth the human race will find ways to adapt technology to its
own desires - something that in the past was thought to be working out in the opposite manner.
My main point is, what if the end of 2012 is like a
singularity - with maximum
technology and minimum intelligence / social interaction? In the next cycle, we could learn more about ourselves, others, interactions and
spirituality than traditional science. In addition, we might start dealing with issues where science has gotten out of control, like side-effects of
medicines, genetically modified foods, etc.
I had a dream once, where I was in the year 3,000 and tribes of people lived in abandoned cities that had become over-run by forests. Maybe 2012 marks
the year that we start to see increases in socializing and decreases in technology?
This is wishful thinking, I know. But if technology increases, frankly, I don't give a damn. I would rather see relationships and thinking skills
improve.
One thing I am going to do about it in my own life is start spending less time online and see if I can't find more people to hang out with in person.
I am going to attempt to start re-developing social skills and higher-level thinking skills I have lost, and hopefully come out okay. Possibly by
doing this, I will attract people of a similar nature.*
Lots of stuff to think about.
Disclaimer: A lot of what I say is from my personal viewpoint, which could be biased by my surroundings and situation.
*I believe that is a good principle to follow - if you want something in someone else, find it in yourself. It has its roots in psychology, in
fact - all of this complaining I am doing about other people's behavior might, and probably is, a projection of my own faults onto others. With
exclusion to the dating site thing - that is supported by empirical research, and don't use those. Ick.edit on 26-11-2012 by darkbake
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edit on 26-11-2012 by darkbake
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edit on 26-11-2012 by darkbake because: (no reason given)
edit on 26-11-2012 by darkbake
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