People have lost their ability for pensive thought.. private contemplation… personal judgement that stays inside. Instead, with the advent of all things social media, humanity has morphed into a strange array of over judgmental people with a taste for social justice warriors who offer nothing but vitriolic rage about everything..
We opine on every topic that comes our way.. we immediately judge things like football players taking a knee during national anthems… office workers not making coffee to our liking… Facebook news feeds are filled with endless nonsense about Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. We occasionally learn something—like the fact that Trump’s rump is nearly 300 pounds, that is a shocker … For the most part we don’t learn a thing. Instead we respond, we Tweet, we yell, we fight.
Most people have opinions about things they don’t know a thing about.. One of the most fundamental mistakes in conversation or debate is to bill yourself as an expert in topics you don’t know virtually anything about! Just stay silent.. stay quiet. Observe. And learn. Research. Come back to the conversation later armed with facts and something worthwhile.
Or.. just do what the rest of people do: Have a loud and boisterous opinion …. While the experts in the subject stand back and roll their eyes are your utmost stupidity..
I am always intrigued by some on Facebook who use the platform as a vehicle for their self-delusion. There are those who will be showered with ‘happy birthdays’ and they will stay silent, until the next day, when they offer their “humble and heartfelt” thanks for the messages. Or those who decide that they need to make a statement on Facebook about some national or international event or disaster—as through they are some sort of world leader that the Associated Press and Reuters are waiting on pins and needles to speak.. Or those who send out mysterious messages for attention.
I bet you did it too. At least once.
Because Facebook gives you the ability.. grown adults tell me to check their wall. They tell me the link they posted last night is a must read, or I just need to see the latest cat GIF that they shared from some obscure vine on the information superhighway..
And there is nothing ‘wrong’ with that. Nothing immoral.. nothing that should inspire stones to be cast through glass houses.
My only end-all point is that we lost a certain ability within ourselves to be silent. We have come to incorrectly think our opinion matters. It does sometimes. It doesn’t others. The trait in our brains to distinguish when we should Tweet or Talk vs be silent and listen has gone away. We are quick to render judgement and critiscm… we are prone to accept incorrect fallacy during debate.
And we have lost the age old tradition of listening to an argument, considering both sides, and quietly coming to an opinion that MAYBE—just maybe—one day you will share with others. Because sometimes you just flat out don’t have to share.
Unless you’re on Facebook. Then you need to post stool sample photos and get as many likes as you can.
The age of information .. the age of paranoia.. the age of societal breakdown.
Welcome to the 21st century on the Graffiti highway.
