I should be the last person to judge anyone. But I'm not writing this blog post to pass judgement. I merely wish to pass observations which might escape some individuals.
Electronic devices are wonderful. You can buy a 10cm^2 collection of silicone, resistors, ect. and house inside them several collections that might otherwise take entire rooms. Good news: being pack rat has become the norm and is now not looked down upon.
But this post is not about being a digital pack rat. That's for another time.
I have observed this many times before. I am on the bus and another person climbs aboard, pays the fare (as deigns any good citizen), and sits down. The person then pulls out earphones from inside their pocket or jacket and puts them on. A few seconds later I'm listening to whatever that person is listening with relative clarity. Sometimes earphones are skipped altogether and the entire bus is treated to this person's taste in music.
I have to admit that I did have this earphone phase I was going through ... I was sixteen. Sue me. Nowadays I read on the bus.
So, what is my problem with this?
Well, for starters, pumping music in your ears is a sure-fire way of saying to a person "Listen, I am not interested in what you have to say." Talking to strangers on the bus is not my hobby, but I don't like closing myself off completely. I feel that when we close ourselves off from communication, we also become more passive, less capable of decent human to human conversation. We revert back to one-way communication.
Second of all, constant noise does not allow anyone to stop and think. Whenever I'm reading on the bus, I stop several times and stare off in the distance. Some thought would have popped into my head and I would think about it. I must look like a damn fool every time that happens, but at least I know that whatever thought occurs to me, I process it.
Human society is very fond of introducing devices into its processes without stopping to think about the repercussions. I am not saying to stop all technological progress, but maybe we should think of how this affects us, our attitudes and our behaviour.
Very, very good. I think that as technology continues to permeate our lives and move forward, people might actually start seeing less value in being constantly plugged in and more in being unplugged. Living "off the grid" will probably turn into a much bigger fad pretty soon.
ReplyDeleteI was unplugging before unplugging was cool :P
ReplyDeleteI totally agree! I hate how technology subconsciously encourages us to become introverts! I hate even more how kids are growing up with that as the norm. And critics wonder why the children of the future are losing the ability the communicate properly. This is 21 year old who is proud to be unable to work an iPhone. :)
ReplyDeleteP.S. All the cool kids read on the bus. Didn't you know? ;)