So Christmas is upon us here in 2010, and one of the rarest gifts that can be given or received right now is optimism. Contrasted to 2008 after Obama was elected (but the economy was still in the crapper), optimism reigned supreme. Today, team Elephant is pompous and arrogant and team Donkey is whiney… and well, arrogant, both run the country in their own selfish interest and neither has made anything better for anyone. Meanwhile people are still out of work (whether by choice or by circumstance), innovation is hard to come by, self-motivation seems lacking and charity and goodwill are both minimal and taken advantage of.
Merry Christmas.
That’s not where the story does or should end…thank God.
We’re in a weird technically wired world where at my last family Christmas gathering, I watched 7 people sit around a living room as a TV lazily droned on some football game and the setting was ripe for some interpersonal communication and plain old quality family time. Well, instead, all seven were playing on their smartphones, Intendo’s, iPhones, FacetubeGoogleDroids and none of them even seemed to realize (much less acknowledge) others were in the room. That’s not, by the way, an indictment on any of the people specifically, but more on the wired culture. Granted, I’ve been known to fling those Angry Birds at those stupid pigs from time to time, and on occasion, I demand my following to read my blogs, but at no point could I possibly handle that being my lifestyle… it’s just an activity.
I know some who prioritize BookSpaceTubeFace as a can’t miss part of their day to the point where it causes emotional angst if it doesn’t happen. I know some who can’t set down their phone, ever, because there’s a chance someone may possibly be Texting/Interwebbing/GoogleDroiding to the point where conversations in person are set aside for a MORE instant form (apparently) of communication. MORE INSTANT THAN IN PERSON!!! Imagine that! People make specific plans to spend time with each other, only to have those plans disrupted and interrupted by a PHONE. Unreal.
Technology and the proliferation of access to the internet has made the world “smaller” and “connected” people virtually as never before… At the teeny tiny cost of connecting people physically.
Now, I’m not the Unabomber type who thinks this is just awful and that technology is dooming us to a zombie-like existence…
I am the type who would challenge those who heavily use / rely on technology to better utilize it as a way of enhancing interpersonal relationships instead of interrupting them. Maybe it’s a growing pain and tech isn’t there yet, but the virtual world is actually a great way to expand your personal network of connections, and the physical world is actually a great way to expand your personal connections. How do we bring the two together? When Facebook becomes a distraction from connections instead of a way to enhance them, we could start by admitting and recognizing it. Then maybe getting back to that innovation and try to find a way to combine the positive aspects of it.
Take this little blog for example… I use it to fart my opinions onto the internet, but in the process, I accidentally re-found a friend of mine on the interwebs that I enjoy talking to and winning trivia contests where I re-donate the prize to his firstborn. There are a couple readers here I’ve not met in person, and one specific reader who, between the two of us, decided that we can be frank and honest with each other BECAUSE we’ve only met online! That’s a pretty cool dynamic, and it kind of made me realize that the inter-social paradigm can, has, and will continue to change with technology. In the mean time, I have my family and friends that I prefer to see more often than I do, but in the meanwhile, the technology can help me keep up with them. It augments the relationship, but it’s all about the balance.
There’s really no point to this posting today other than the aforementioned internet-brain-fart… so… there ya go.
As a final note – in 10 days, we’ll be at “P0X” beginning the long, rough ride to “P90X”. Once I get the pictures uploaded for the 90 days, if someone creative wants to make a “flip book” for me, let me know! That could be fun.. J
Cheers!!
And remember Zeno’s Paradox. You can’t get all the way until you get half way first.
Just like prom night…
