Sometimes I am overwhelmed by the amount of information in the world. Are you ever amazed that every person you see on the street, in stores, at football games, have individual unique lives? Every once in a while I am reminded at how huge and complex the human family is. Sort of like looking at the stars, massive, incomprehensible, unique and complex.
Anyway, while walking on the sidewalk I heard bits and pieces of everyone's conversations and thought, "This would be so much easier if everyone just had a twitter status that I could scroll through to see what they're up to." Then I realized how non-human and impersonal that sounded. Even just in my head! So I made a concerted effort to turn off my mind and just listen. No conscious thought other than heading in the general direction of the library. I tried to understand complete conversations by listening to the bits and pieces that I heard.
A girl sitting on a planter box talking to a friend on her phone trying to work out schedules for the weekend. "...Okay well I don't know if Friday works but maybe sometime Saturday"
A guy trying to come up with anything to say just to keep the conversation going with a girl from his class, "...I know! I am always late to that class too! I should be better ..."
Another kid confessing a secret fantasy with some of his friends " I have never really told this to anyone since the books came out but I have always wanted to, you know, start something like, Dumbledore's Army ..."
I felt a little bit like Mel Gibson in What Women Want because I felt that I could read almost, people's thoughts and I thought it was hilarious. Twitter doesn't replace human interaction, it just adds another facet to communication and relationships. Logically no one should care what you ate for breakfast or if you're going to study in the library today instead of the student center, but humans do care.
Have you ever read through the FaceBook "Overheard at BYU"? it is snippets of life on campus, which if looked at from an outsider's point of view, can be really funny!
ReplyDeleteOf course, its also a funny way to find out which teachers I really want to sit through next semester!
My husband likes to quote that "writing is the worst way to communicate" (I don't know the source) because the non-written communicaiton is not there too - body language, tone of voice, sarcasm or humor sometimes doesn't convert well to written work.
We also do that with texting on the phone - why not just call??!! Most of the time, it would be OK to call, I'm just too lazy!
Of course, the BEST way to communicate with people is a face-to-face conversation!
Wow! Well said Rhett. Well said. As I was reading your post and thinking about some of the philosophies of John Locke, the thought of first impressions came to my mind. What impression do I want to give off to others? How do I perceive other people? As I continually perform experiments in my mind using my perceptions and ideas as the raw materials, I can't help but notice that we as a society never stop. In a world fast-paced and consumed by technology, I too enjoy taking a moment to stop and listen and observer my surroundings.
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ReplyDeleteGreat thoughts, seriously. One of my friends is always telling me, "I'd really rather you call me." How much better would our interactions be if we told a friend of our latest frustration, accomplishment, or witty anecdote rather than posting it to get lost in the virtual void of viral vernacular?
ReplyDeleteSometimes Twitter and Blogging facilitate relationships that don't exist outside the virtual world, people we don't even know well enough to chat on the phone with. I did a Students for Social Entrepreneurship internship with Criterion Ventures and now the boss of the company follows me on Twitter, heard about my blog, and commented! Criterion Ventures is in Connecticut and yet here we are connecting. Cool!
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