It's easier to deal with the machines. The iPod doesn't get mad at you for saying this, not doing that, etc.

I, for one, usually have my earphones in and my lil' iriver pumping some tunes as I carouse the campus, because (and anyone who knows me will attest to this fact) I'm obsessed with music. If I could, I'd take tests with the damn things in, pumping the latest Isis or Cult of Luna CD.

But I have noticed that this seems to be a disturbing trend on my campus as well.

Oh well. Welcome to the "digital" age.

I tried walking while listening to music and I found I didn't like it at all. To me walking is nearly a spiritual excersize -it's my time to just be alone with me and think.

And I carry a cell phone 24/7 becasue it is required by my job. If it were not for that I'd chunk the thing in a heart beat.

I carry my cell phone because I hate wearing watches. All I have to do is pull it out of my pocket, and I know what time it is. If it were ok for girls to carry pocket watches, I think I would, and just leave my phone in my room.

I do worry that we as a society are becoming increasingly disconnected. They moved our Honors college into two buildings so we could all live together and be one big happy community. However, most students would prefer to "hang out" with each other on the online forum rather than in the lobby. They "know" each other by screen names, but wouldn't recognize each other walking across campus.

I think we would rather deal with technology than humans because it cuts out the risk involved. If I deal with an ATM, I can't get embarassed if I'm overdrawn, you know? If I buy a ginormous package of tampons and go through the self-checkout, the cashier doesn't need to know all about chickie-time. If I look for a date online, it doesn't seem to sting as bad if I get rejected as it would if it didn't work out in real life...

You know? Does that make sense?

I think we younger folks do ourselves a disservice that we can't look at someone in passing and smile and say "hi" and just be friendly. I couldn't for a long time. I had to force myself because, dammit, teachers are supposed to be perky and love everyone. So now I do it. I hug the old ladies at church even if I want to run away. I ruffle the kid's hair that pisses me off the most. I smile at the co-worker that gossips about me behind my back. And seriously...those things are really low risk. I think they're common courtesy.

Meh. I guess I'm just a hick.

I think it's sad really. My hubby and I recently went to dinner and there were parents with a boy at the next table. Both of the parents were talking to other people on the cell phone. They didn't talk to each other and they weren't talking to their son. I just don't get it and I felt bad for the boy, really for all of them.

When I pick up my son from junior high all the kids are standing outside, presumably with their friends, but they are all talking on the cell phones. Why is whoever they are not with more interesting than the people that are standing right beside you.

Re: Your Professor.



I think his dualism is pretty limited. His "You are Satan" answer is flippant so doesn't count. What if we are all simply objects waiting for recognition? Lots of people believe that one doesn't exist if one is recognized as existing. I think that recognizing the existance of another object is not sadism but can be a rejoicing of existance. I think your professor is a sad and lonely man to have brought it to that dualism.
Actually, I should ammend that. Maybe this is not his personal philosophy. Maybe this is just a point of view he wanted to discuss in class.


Re: Cell Phones.



Connecting to others is important. I think cell phones are liberating. It enables us to connect with others that we have an interest in rather than being forced to connect to those we are thrown together with by fate. We can have nice interactions with people that we are tossed together with at work or at school. But having this technology means that we can reach beyond a circle that we may be stuck in due to economic or logistical circumstances.



For example, we spend a lot of our time at work. We may love our jobs, but are our co-workers the people we would chose to spend time with if we weren't thrown together by the fate of employment? Maybe the answer is yes. But I find more often that the answer is that we socialize with these people to have good working relationships, not because we feel a deep connection through our beliefs or interests.



I like that I can share things with friends who are outside my circle of work and maintain some sort of immediacy to our friendship by talking on a cell phone in different locations and not just at home.



Re: Ipod



Hmmm... this may have been invented by SHE seeing as she has already been identified as the devil. Haven't really come to any conclusions about the i-pod yet. It is a lot more bubble oriented than the cell-phone.



Re: Cut ourselves off from surroundings.



Riding the train during rush hour in Tokyo is all about creating your own personal bubble. Technology like the i-pod just makes it less tedious. For me, I find it more forgivable to have my toes stepped on by someone wearing headphones than someone who isn't. Said person is very unlikely to apologize for two reasons: it was probably unintentional; it involves taking down that mask of privacy that is actually pretty necessary to survive in such close quarters with so many people. Being from Canada, if someone steps on me or shoves me I pretty much expect an apology. It's a major cultural difference. After a while, I have gained some respect for that bubble. It's pretty exhausting to mentally engage with so many people.

You finally got it at the very end. His "you are satan" was flippant, which is why it is funny. We were discussing a certain philosopher, it was just 4 years ago, and I can't remember who. Part of the philosophy was you either make people your object, or you allow them to make you their object. And I honestly have no idea what his personal philosophy is, because he always put himself into "this is the truth" role for every philosopher we studied.

I find cell phones kind of sad because people refuse to be where they are. We are so concerned with being somewhere where we are not, and talking to people who are not around, that we don't enjoy the "now". Just like the family eating at a restaurant, and not talking to each other. It's great that we can get in touch with people that we miss, but there's something to be said for talking to a classmate instead of calling someone you'll see later. Of course, when you see that person later, you'll be talking to someone else on the phone.

I disagree with this. Maybe people are enjoying the now with people they actually care about but can't be with. I think it is a different way to enjoy the "now."

I don't disagree with the fact that you can get some enjoyment with people you are physically with. Hmmm. Sounds sexual and isn't meant to be.

I see the reality of a working life as spending a lot of time with people who aren't emotionally significant to a person. Simply saying that one should then change one's place of work I think is pretty unrealistic. School fits a lot of the same criteria as work. Of course, I can see that there are a lot of people who are refusing to engage on a face to face level and a great example is that family that Loca wrote about. But rather than seeing all the negatives, all the this is so sad (and there are sad elements) I am happy to see a way that people can a way to maintain connections in a way that is fulfilling to them that would have been impossible to do so without all this "faceless" technology. The alternative is that one ends up isolated even though surrounded by others due to a lack of ability or the desire to communicate with those immediately around them. I guess it's just not the technology that turns us seemingly inward but how we choose to use it.

This view has a lot to do with my experience of living and working in a foreign country. But even back home, I can pretty much look at the people surrounding me and figure out if a co-worker or a stranger (a bit harder) is going to be interested in anything I have to say that is beyond the mundane everyday stuff or dip into the personal stuff.

I talk to a lot of people and I'm pretty gregarious so I'm not some otaku who is unable to connect with people. But I like that I am able to maintain friendships with people and share things with them that I would not be able to do otherwise. I don't spend a lot of time with these people face to face.


Then you should have written so, no?

Sometimes I'd rather go to the ATM than a teller, or do the self checkout instead of using a cashier. My reason, I know I won't be offended when the ATM or self checkout don't return eye contact and my friendly "Hello, How are you today".

I don't find them sad because I'd like to be able to call my hubby and let him know when I'm coming home, or him do the same for me. We only have prepaid though, so not much yapping goes on there.

I'm a personal contact type of person (just not a "touch me" personal contact type of person, gotta respect the perimeter, peeps), so I'll always opt to go to the teller or the checker.

That, and, as a teller, I'm always going to give you the "How are you today" treatment, 'cuz it pisses me off when people don't.

I think it is generational.  I see a lot of young folks walking around with their cell phones glued to their ears.  I have had one for about 10 years now, and never could figure out the infatuation with them.  I do not own an MP3 player.  Like Shovel, my job requires one, but I rarely use it other than to talk to my wife and the occassional call to my mother.

We're seeing two different things then. I'm seeing students walking with each other, sitting with each other, choosing to be in each other's company, yet they are each on the phone with other people. Worse is when one person is on the phone, and the other is sitting in silence.



It really wasn't relevant. I didn't think anyone would see the focus of that paragraph being what his philosophy was, but the question I asked about denying existence to others.

And allow me to clear up something: having a phone to communicate with friends and family far away is not a bad thing. Nothing wrong with it. What's wrong is when people can't/won't interact with the world around them. I'm guilty of doing it. Like I said, I walk around with my iPod in so that I don't have to interact with others. (The fact that I, like SanC am also obsessed with music is just a secondary reason for me) Shoot, I'm never without a book to read, which cuts me off just as effectively as a cell phone would (though less annoying to the general public). When people use the cell phone, the ipod, the book to create their own little world bubble, I wonder what that says about us. Maybe it's fine and that's the way our society is headed and I better get used to it fast. I just worry that we might be missing something.

I think it is generational.

I agree! Although there are some adults who do it as well. Mostly I beleive this happens because people are scared. Scared of rejection. Why bother to try to make friends when you might be rejected? It's much easier to talk to someone you already know. At least then you look cool, hip, and busy....or so they think!

I'm not sure I look cool or hip, but I always look busy. Reading Harry Potter and conducting with your free hand does not make one look cool, I fear. For other people though, I think you hit the nail on the head.