It occurred to me this morning that there is a great cultural evolution going on and while as a member of the human race we all are responsible for its occurrence, there is likely little we can do to control or conform it to what we would like it to be.
The direction we’re taking because of technology is one of mass communication with others; a global warming of the heart so to speak. What I see as well, however, is that as we step further out of our familiar boundaries, as we reach over fences via telecom of one sort or another, we seem to be distancing ourselves from the reality of the original boundaries of our senses. We can just as easily see and hear someone on the other side of the world as we can our spouse, child. the neighbor next door. What we cannot do is touch flesh on flesh–or at least with those in our reality with whom we are not on quite such intimate terms. Let’s focus on neighbor then (if you’ve been intimate then just pick another neighbor–no questions asked).
Okay, so we’ve got John across the street. I don’t believe I’ve ever touched him and vice versa. I’ve talked with him, therefore heard and seen him from a distance of let’s say about two feet–that’s further than your computer monitor away. What is the difference then in interaction between an online communication and a physical one–aside from the ‘possibility’ of touch and the unfortunate possibility of scent being missing from the technological version?
Better minds than I have looked into all this and yet we’d not stop the revolution–er, evolution–if we could. It’s progress. We’ve seen the problems going backwards (Jurassic Park for example), but what will be up ahead for this new ‘hands off’ society? Which brings to mind the fact that we’ve already been prepping for this with the laws covering everything from the cuffing of a wayward child to the hugging of a successful or proud coworker or student.
On the flip side, I’ve already realized that even newfangled communication methods must be minded; We can’t just Twitter our thoughts without knowing who’s following our twittering. What we want people to perceive is what we choose to present. I’ve learned a long time ago to curb the rants of passionate causes, the ire of instant anger, the primarily flakey artiste that begs for attention as much as any drama queen, on the weblogs–though I still fall victim to spontaneity and often go back an hour later and horrified, delete the diatribe of a post that seemed so sane at the time it was written.
Just recently, in the excitement of a new venture I gave out the weblog urls to someone I hadn’t seen in twenty years. Now he’s my boss (though I don’t figure I hafta listen since I’m not getting paid) and he has likely passed the site info out to people I expect to be involved with yet haven’t even met yet. What does this mean?
Basically, that I have to behave myself here until I’m sure that, like my family, they’ve lost interest and don’t check the sites and also, that I’ve gotta find yet another means of communication that can be carefully monitored as far as accessibility.
Hah! Better communication indeed!
The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology
