Love Will Keep Us Together (or How Love Will Tear Us Apart)
One of the big lies about the internet is that it's bringing us together.
Not true.
What the internet and new media are doing is creating a world where you don't have to feel uncomfortable.
Love will keep us together? Right?
As long as you love the same thing I do.
What we are really seeing is the death of cultural touchstones, those thing which we all have in common.
Those things we all share.
We don't watch the same news or tv shows.
We don't share the same newspapers or magazines.
We don't visit the same websites or listen to the same music.
We don't even watch the same movies.
We don't know our neighbors because we don't need to.
The things we are forced to share (i.e., public education, government,etc.) are all screwed up.
What does all this mean?
What happens to a country world where niches trumps everything?
What happens when the things that used to occupy the edges become the center?
Just look at your kids.
Really.
May 15, 2006 at 10:54 am
“..you don’t have to feel uncomfortable…”
Brilliant man, that’s the nut of it. Nothing is more real, difficult, or irreplaceable than staring into the face of another human.
Great observation.
May 15, 2006 at 11:05 am
Actually that was the only line in the post I liked. Glad you found it.
May 15, 2006 at 12:50 pm
Isn’t that what we’ve all been looking for? . . . the place where we’re no longer the minority–the different ones–where we can be our own little majority? Hey look at me. I’m a majority of ONE!
May 15, 2006 at 1:05 pm
Very deep commentary. How does a society function with this much fragmentation? Will tolerance for what’s different increase, or decrease?
Seems to me that the argument could be made that we are in fact creating a situation where the natural human tendency towards discrimination and prejudice (in all areas, not just race or religion, etc) is amplified.
May 15, 2006 at 1:12 pm
This is the stuff no one seems to be worried about.
I would argue acts of terrorism and violence are to be expected in a society like we are creating.
Anyway, we’ll see how it goes…and Liz, I’m taking that majority of one line.
May 15, 2006 at 2:08 pm
You can borrow it, but you have to think of me whenever you use it.
I think you have a point about the use of terrorism in a society where we’re making EVERYTHING comfortable. Hard work is good for building character. Strong trees learn to bend as saplings. . . .
We need wisdom to grow.
May 16, 2006 at 11:37 am
Interesting post.
I avoid anything uncomfortable.
Maybe that is not a good thing.
May 16, 2006 at 3:18 pm
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