Here I was thinking I was alone. Turns out I was not the only person thinking that. I read an article recently on a study that found the average American has less friends than the average American of 20 years ago (news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060626/od_ … friends_dc).
Why is this? It is because of the proliferation of technology in the average American home in a combination with social anxiety.
With the advent of the internet, people found a new way to hide: not in a corner, but behind an alias and an avatar. All of the sudden people could say what they wanted and not have to deal with the consequences of actually having to face a person who disagrees with you. Writing on the internet is essentially analogous to graffiti on the restroom stall. And as people realized the possibilities, they withdrew from real world society. The polite niceties that used to connect us all, let us meet new people, are now practiced solely for the sake of tradition it seems. When someone asks, “How are you?†they no longer even expect a real answer, rather they expect a fine, good, or ok. People, it seems, are afraid of being judged. They hide behind these lies while forced to be in the real world, then go home and write about their day in a blog, in a forum, somewhere only strangers will read it.
Is this a good thing? Definitely not! Being judged is what has kept people good. Why shouldn’t a person insult and cuss someone else into oblivion when there are no consequences? Where is the drive to stay healthy when you can name yourself “sexygurl42†and have a supermodel for an avatar? What happens to religion when lying becomes as easy as saying “I’m ok� They get flushed down the toilet while you are busy writing on the restroom stall.
What can be done to reverse this trend? I don’t know. People no longer want a truthful answer when they ask how you are. If you were so bold as to give one, odds are the same person would not ask you again. Are we doomed?
I think the decay in virtue and moral quality has to do with the fact that sensationalists control the media.
The TV is a money making machine, and a mind-control device.
I must blame corporate culture control.
It’s my best guess as to why culture in USA and everywhere else has degraded.
People are destracted from eachother & are more dependent on corporate mass producers. Most of their world is man-made-synthesis. It’s not even that, it’s factory made, mass produced, depersonalized.
Who is this post aimed at? It seems bad practice to me, writing an article accusing its readers.
I recently read an essay just like this. Crappiest thing ever. It was called “Courtesy” and was all about how society is decaying. The first problem was that the author kept telling me what I do, like I don’t know. “When a car cuts in front of you, what do you do? You react in anger, probably.” (I wouldn’t know, I don’t drive) He kept insulting his audience, claiming that they are the problem, all while writing in the most complicated and stylised way that nobody uncultured enough to be part of the problem would understand. Arggh.
Several problems here. First of all, how do you know
society has in fact, decayed! You have to base
your statement on something more then we might,
yes might, have less friends then we used to have
20 years ago. How this translate into a decay of society,
I am not sure, but the fact remains, which facts would you
use to determine that, our society has “decayed” in the last
20 years. What would be your basis for deciding that, indeed
society has decayed? What criteria would you use?
thank you for bringing this stuff out into the open. i agree. there is a penalty for putting up a mask in front of your face,a false personality, and hiding your soul from the world. true it’s precious, and can be harmed by belligerent bullshit because of this fact, but people(some) can sense sincerity, and usually respond in kind.
now i’m on the net alot,and foruming helps to say stuff that would require alot of trust to otherwise spill, because i’m so damn shy and xenophobic.it’s a long twisted story.
anyway,a friend i dont really know phoned me(which like never happens)today, and we talked for quit a while. being that i never leave the house or phone anyone,it was diffrent. i did not put up a fake act. allbeit,i knew this particular person would not insult me. there is a VERY speacial reason for that too,not that i’d say it here. we talked truthfully,not small talk. it seemed very philosophical too. it was like lonely bachelor stuff.(now THAT is where philosophy is at!is that NOT where it is at!?)
anyway just consider A)what is this person like?are they really human,or a belligerent chimp hiding behind a human body? B)we are mirriors. i so agree with the golden rule here.it sums it up nicely.
and,dont feel so bad it’s a forum i’m pouring this out on,cuz in person i’d of never opened this stuff up to countless viewers,like on some big old stage.hell no! so thats what anonymity can do. people spilling countless beans they’ed never spill in person.
It is a known fact that thiings are worse now than they were before. In fact, it’s always been this way. Things will be worse in the future than they are now. Easiest thesis in journalism.
The society is really decaying, not because of internet,but because we have nothing to believe in since God is no longer the guide of our thoughts and actions and behaviors.and philosophy made no progress since Schopenhouar.
the society is decaying not for people have fewer friends than before or anything like that,but for the people now are seeking happiness as their only purpose in life,and the worst is that their understanding of happiness is very superficial and sensational and material,and with this folse notion of happiness as the guide of thoughts and actions and social behaviors,how could the society get on in the right path since it has lost its abilities to find the right direction of humanity.