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Tuesday, October 21, 2014

A TOURIST IN THE DIGITAL AGE

HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY, LENNY LEE!
MAY YOUR DAY HAVE BEEN FANTABULOUS!!


Ghost of Mark Twain, here, Roland.



Beejeebers, I don't want to say you"suck" as the phrase goes these days, 

But, son, you suck!  Not one comment. 

 Hemingway is chortling.  I kicked him for you.  Of course, I then ran like the blazes.  Man simply cannot take a joke!



I admit to being a tourist in the Digital Age.

Look at the cyber-world of Instagram and Pinterest.




People aren’t sharing narratives anymore, they’re sharing basically emotions.

You can see that one result in the total visualization of communication.

Increasingly, people are exchanging images rather than (or in addition to) text.

Like any tool, the internet has its dangers.




Glibbness and artificial charm.  Manipulation of others. A grandiose sense of self.  Shallow emotions.  Easy lying.  Lack of empathy.

The above is what many experts accuse the internet of implanting in its users.  They are also the symptoms of a sociopath.

Consider the BroApp:

 It not only sends scheduled texts, but comes preloaded with 12 messages to help users get started.


Say a guy starts using BroApp with his girlfriend, set to send a message around 12pm each weekday.

Guy observes that girlfriend is now much happier when he arrives home from work.

Guy is no longer stressed about finding time during a busy day to text.

Girl is much happier because her boyfriend is more engaged with their relationship




Most Americans
Most Americans now believe that their children will be worse off than they.  First time in America's history.

America is still the best place to live but no longer a good place to dream. 

Martin Luther King's dream has become a nightmare of school shootings and Ferguson.

Is it because we have become increasingly
emotionally isolated? 
Has Facebook replaced actual interpersonal communication? 
Can we actually hold a conversation on
character-poor Twitter?
HOW LOW CAN THE BAR BE SET FOR INTERPERSONAL INTIMACY?

What are your thoughts?

7 comments:

  1. Hi Roland - I quite agree I can't stand the way most people are besotted with their phone, or latest gizmo .. I wouldn't mind if they did something useful with them - helped others etc ...

    But we really need to start leading and setting ourselves up as examples and not fall into the trap of doing what others do ... being independent is a good start, thinking for ourselves, and taking care of our own lives and helping others with theirs ..

    Cheers Hilary

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  2. Hi, Hilary:
    Thanks for commenting. I was feeling like I was singing to an empty house -- all those cyber echoes!

    Though personal smart phones are prohibited at my blood center -- when I walk in the place, everyone is bent over their smart phones, noses bent to them. Sigh.

    I have a crude phone -- just phone calls capable. I want my mind on my work.

    We are collapsing inside ourselves I think. Yes, we must strive to be there for others and make a difference where we live.

    Thanks for visiting and staying to chat! :-)

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  3. Hmmm... I have to agree with you. My daughters prefer texting to talking. My 2 year old grandsons walk around with an iPad. The one grandchild never leaves his house without his. Not mention, this thing of being attached constantly to communication is a big distraction from writing. Something I need to get done.

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  4. Shelly:
    I have a Kindle Fire HD at work, but only view it at lunch. And many times I write then. The Kindle Fire allows me to listen to audiobooks on the road on my blood runs, so I enrich my mind with it.

    For awhile the doctors were talking about a future where adults would have "Blackberry Thumbs" from all the texting. The adults will still have joint problems but what will they call it? "Not So Smart Phonitis!"

    With texting, you miss all those visual cues that clue you in on the sincerity of the person you're talking to. We are raising a generation that is becoming stunted socially due to the cyber wall of "security" between themselves and others.

    Thanks for visiting. I've missed you!! :-)

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  5. I think a lot of parents are using tech toys as 'babysitters', the way the last generation used tv to capture their attention. Do kids play outside anymore? They do what they see the parents do, and other kids. I opted out of Twitter and FB for several reason, only one of which was time.

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  6. D.G.:
    Tech Toys have no moral compass and so are lousy babysitters, aren't they?

    Here in the South some kids still play outside but not often.

    I think we give too much of our personal data on FB where strangers have access to it.

    And Twitter is of limited use. I am a dinosaur I know. :-)

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  7. Roland, it sounds like you and I have the same kind of very basic cell phone. Mine is only for emergencies, which means I pretty much never use it. Besides, I work on a computer at work and I have one at home, so the last thing I need is to carry one around with me?

    I too am tired of seeing people staring into their little devices and tuning out the world. And yes, conversation is a lost art among a lot of people, so I cherish the friends with whom I can still talk and listen.

    ReplyDelete