I wonder where this meme came from, why we're telling ourselves that the internet has brought unity to the world, that this access to limitless and instantaneous communication is tearing down the barriers between peoples. Is this the experience that you have actually had with the internet, do you feel more connected to the people around you? I guess that depends on our meanings for "connected". I mean, do you feel fulfilled by the people around you?- not only online, but face to face too? I don't, I feel like an alien. I see the enormous ways that we are divided, not just by the internet, but in every plain and medium of daily interaction. I realize new aspects of this dynamic every day and I end up laying awake in bed for hours, long before I'm tired enough to fall sleep, and I try to determine the rationale for continued existence. Often unconsciousness is a highlight relative to waking activity.
I attended a trade show today, a portion of which involved presenters, and I found myself seated behind a group of women who were all flipping through Facebook while the speaker was onstage. I ignored it until I glanced down at the distracted row and saw that one of them had flipped over to Tinder - and I could see her entire screen clearly! Seeing someone else use Tinder is an eye-opener, especially someone of the opposite sex. This lady was quite overweight and I couldn't resist seeing what kind of guy she's into! I tried to call it (internally), whether she would swipe left or right when each new ridiculous smiling dude popped up for review - and I didn't manage a single accurate prediction! Now that I think about it, she was really focused on finding a nice guy, not a hot guy, and that makes me feel guilty for watching. After swiping was over, she deleted someone from her "matched" list and switched to another dating app. So it was disheartening. But do we see the absurdity of Tinder?- the manufacture of relationship? I use that term broadly.
The whole of social media is an attempt at manufacturing relationships. Consider the intensity of our sexual drive, our compulsion to make friends and accomplish several degrees of companionship. We have those drives as a reason to exist! Existence is relationship. What we have here is the illusion of relationship, right now, between you and I as I type on a cell phone and right now as you read the finished writing. I am not existing with you, I am alone with a phone. And even if you are currently with other people, you are also alone with your phone. Do you see the division between you and I? And do you see the division right now between you and everyone around you? We are all missing out. We are wasting the intense insinct for relationship that obviously exists, since that's what we believe we're accomplishing here, but in actuality we are disconnected.
What the internet actually is is humanity's most comprehensive encyclopedia. But the attribute that enables its comprehensivity is exactly the reason that it's commonly regarded as inaccurate! Anyone can publish anything they please so, "Don't believe everything you read on the internet..."
All we really have from it is the distance between us, and it's an outlet to express divisive subjects. See the levels of division presented. There is a division in our thinking, we don't realize the difference between what we believe to be fulfilling and the actuality of our loneliness; we are lying to ourselves. We believe in the inherent "goodness" of the platform we're using even though we're receiving no goodness.
What you think and what you feel are exactly the same thing, they are both you and you are a single entity. One brain and one heart, but neither can exist alone so they are not divided. You think that the internet is bringing you closer to people but you feel something completely different. You are not fulfilled because what you think is not the case and you can feel it. This internal division causes suffering
That lady sitting in front of me today was feeling it but she kept going. She probably put a lot of effort into portraying herself a certain way on Tinder or Facebook, we all do. And that portrayal of herself is a lie, it isn't her, she is sitting there giving the creep behind her some rare entertainment. Her and I existed together and it was so impactful that I'm writing about it! Even though she wasn't aware of our relationship, we had a more relevant interaction than anything she was accomplishing on social media... Because it was occurring!
With all this I am merely complaining, not suggesting anything. I can see the division and I don't think it's going anywhere - but I wonder if others can see it too.
The internet topic took up more space than I anticipated so I'll leave it here. Thanks for reading.
