Ideally, I'd be doing this on the train, but my schedule would never allow it. I'm beginning to understand exactly why it's easier for me to do these after the tutorials in question. Perhaps the delay between doing the readings and discussing them in class has a bigger impact on my thought processes than I imagined.
Or perhaps it's just that I'm not used to sitting at a desk and thinking like this. Frankly, I'm of the opinion that it's the latter. The pseudo-comfort zone one builds when on the move has become something of a drug for me. Blocking out the world with a pair of headphones and staring at a laptop screen in order to put down a series of ideas or enjoy an e-book is a habit I cannot say i would be comfortable breaking.
I am totally reliant on my mobile media. I'd certainly feel naked without it, and a good portion of my 'armour' would be instantly broken were my laptop or my mp3 player to disappear. It creates my 'place' and without it I'd be lost.
Unbelievable, isn't it?
Without that particular object; an inanimate object, I'd be as vulnerable as a newborn animal.
What's worse, however, is that much of today's society would probably agree with me. Without their mobile 'security blankets' life just isn't the same. The ability to send and receive information even while on the move has become so natural for us, we may as well have a mobile phone or mp3 player implanted in our heads.
People have thus found even more reasons to avoid making face-to-face relationships, preferring the reinforced digital walls of the cybersphere. More tribute to the evils of social networking.
Mobile Facebook? Almost enough to make agnostic me pray for the souls of all humanity.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Late, but getting around to it.
The last few weeks have been a blur.
Quite literally, I'm losing track of what I've done and not done. Writing things down is useless, since I'm not in the habit of checking a planner and so don't remember to do so if I really do write something in one. Which is ironic considering how much writing I do otherwise, and the fact that writing things down has supposedly removed the need for us to remember things.
Unlike many, I know that writing is one of mankind's greatest technological advancements. Without the written word, today's society wouldn't exist as we know it. Perhaps there would be another in its place, but it would not be the society we live in now. As Walter Ong put it; "we find it difficult to consider writing to be a technology", simply because we've grown to see it as an innate part of our natures. Humans can write, therefore they do.
But the written word has in the past been overshadowed by artworks or theater, music and philosophical debates, yet it has never been stamped out of our history. Rather, it's more like it simply grew stronger for the adversity.
Understandably, I'm biased. Being a writer, I have a great respect for the written word. It allows me to convey my thoughts in a way that I could hardly manage to do with words. The time delay given when putting pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) is a much needed buffer for people these days, where saying the first thing that comes to mind is often the worst thing one could say, or not what they're really trying to say.
The prime example - Social Networking Sites. Where once, face-to-face meetings were the way to go, now people can communicate and stay in touch with mere text. Admiring artwork come down to a picture and a few words via SMS. A review for a play; a Tweet on Twitter. But all of these methods can be carefully considered before they are sent/posted/etc. (not that they always are, humans being the imperfect creatures they are).
Quite literally, I'm losing track of what I've done and not done. Writing things down is useless, since I'm not in the habit of checking a planner and so don't remember to do so if I really do write something in one. Which is ironic considering how much writing I do otherwise, and the fact that writing things down has supposedly removed the need for us to remember things.
Unlike many, I know that writing is one of mankind's greatest technological advancements. Without the written word, today's society wouldn't exist as we know it. Perhaps there would be another in its place, but it would not be the society we live in now. As Walter Ong put it; "we find it difficult to consider writing to be a technology", simply because we've grown to see it as an innate part of our natures. Humans can write, therefore they do.
But the written word has in the past been overshadowed by artworks or theater, music and philosophical debates, yet it has never been stamped out of our history. Rather, it's more like it simply grew stronger for the adversity.
Understandably, I'm biased. Being a writer, I have a great respect for the written word. It allows me to convey my thoughts in a way that I could hardly manage to do with words. The time delay given when putting pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) is a much needed buffer for people these days, where saying the first thing that comes to mind is often the worst thing one could say, or not what they're really trying to say.
The prime example - Social Networking Sites. Where once, face-to-face meetings were the way to go, now people can communicate and stay in touch with mere text. Admiring artwork come down to a picture and a few words via SMS. A review for a play; a Tweet on Twitter. But all of these methods can be carefully considered before they are sent/posted/etc. (not that they always are, humans being the imperfect creatures they are).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)