So I’m just putting it out there… but
Whoever said eyes are the window to the soul clearly hadn’t experienced the internet yet.
In my opinion, if you want to see someone’s soul, google search their name and proceed to find out everything about them via Facebook, instagram, twitter and, if you’re lucky, their tumblr dedicated to pictures of their cat called Mildred. This is both ten times easier than having to literally stare into their eyes and probably significantly less awkward for all parties.
After contemplating the symposium of this week, I began to consider the implications which our globalised, interconnected world has had on traditional forms of human interrelations. We live in a networked society, which allows us to acquaint ourselves with anyone we chose, even without their knowing. This stems from a desire for constant connection, we are used to knowing what everyone we know is doing every hour of the day.
And it’s contagious too.
Because all of my friends want to know what I’m doing at 12.57 every day, I want to know back, and hence the disease of constant connectivity is contracted.
So how much should we allow others to know? Do we actually want every man and his dog to know where we are at every moment of the day or do we just surrender ourselves to the expectation that they “should.” Effectively, the more information you place on the internet, the more you allow others into your lives. We have all grown up in a generation that feels self important enough to document uninteresting aspects of our lives, and damn well expect everyone to read, comment and share it too. Are we history’s most egocentric generation or are we simply giving in to the technological world we live in?
Although there are many perks of the technological world we live in, I can’t help but question whether we are being bred into self-focused adults who have been bred by Apple to put “I” before everything else.
