I wish I had said that. Woody Allen did. But I tend to believe that. I suspect you do too. It's the hedonist in all of us. You know, all those raw appetites that caused us to blow our original sub-prime mortgage on Paradise. And yet, the God of Genesis did allow us to carry away a few worthwhile appetites. Among them, a yearning for companionship. A sense of belonging on this otherwise lonely journey of life.
That need for and reliance upon one another expresses itself in countless ways. To the the evolutionists, it is part of our genetic code for survival. To the religionists, it is the mark of love written on our soul by God. To the skeptics, it is lost time away from more important personal pursuits.To some political thinkers, it is the collectivized way society grapples with national challenges such as the Great Depression and now the Great Recession.
To those of us who teach, this social connectedness is something else. It's one of the best ways in which our students learn. Even though all learning is an individual act of self-discovery, the act happens best when in the company of fellow learners. And so it is that teachers watch with some dismay the dis-connectedness among our students today. Each equipped with a constellation of digital informational- communicators which should be better connecting them, but often tend only to separate them. (Picture how in time some of them sat behind Wall Street computer banks separated from both their products and the people counting on those products!)
There is no question about our new electronic capacities to link up anytime and anywhere. Our President himself wields a mighty BlackBerry wherever he goes. And yet, when armed with the power to do and accomplish so much on your own, where is the appetite for arm-in-arm action? Despite the plight of the un-employed, we don't see it in many mass rallies. Despite the passion for various causes, we don't see it in many mass demonstrations. Why not? Because in cyberspace, there is apparently less need for physical expression.
Some psychologists wonder how far this goes. For example, there is the Wyoming County case of 15-year-old Marisa Miller "sexting" in which cell phone cameras were used for pornographic encounters. As one prosecutor sighed, "This might become a whole new way of teenage birth control!" Half a nation away, in a Connecticut middle school, concerns over excessive physicality has motivated principal Catherine Williams to order "children may not touch each other in any way, under threat of expulsion."
The God of Genesis said, "It is not good for man to be alone." And so came Eve. But now Silicon Valley keeps generating new widgets by which we can be alone. Live, learn, profit and perhaps even copulate alone. One's head swims.
But then -- just when you aren't sure where all this is leading our cocooning species -- you are struck with the reassuring news from this year's Miss Universe. Upon visiting the Guantanamo Bay military installations, Dayana Mendoza of Venezuela cooed: "I didn't want to leave, it was such a relaxing place to all be together."
Now you see, not everyone wants to be alone after all!
That need for and reliance upon one another expresses itself in countless ways. To the the evolutionists, it is part of our genetic code for survival. To the religionists, it is the mark of love written on our soul by God. To the skeptics, it is lost time away from more important personal pursuits.To some political thinkers, it is the collectivized way society grapples with national challenges such as the Great Depression and now the Great Recession.
To those of us who teach, this social connectedness is something else. It's one of the best ways in which our students learn. Even though all learning is an individual act of self-discovery, the act happens best when in the company of fellow learners. And so it is that teachers watch with some dismay the dis-connectedness among our students today. Each equipped with a constellation of digital informational- communicators which should be better connecting them, but often tend only to separate them. (Picture how in time some of them sat behind Wall Street computer banks separated from both their products and the people counting on those products!)
There is no question about our new electronic capacities to link up anytime and anywhere. Our President himself wields a mighty BlackBerry wherever he goes. And yet, when armed with the power to do and accomplish so much on your own, where is the appetite for arm-in-arm action? Despite the plight of the un-employed, we don't see it in many mass rallies. Despite the passion for various causes, we don't see it in many mass demonstrations. Why not? Because in cyberspace, there is apparently less need for physical expression.
Some psychologists wonder how far this goes. For example, there is the Wyoming County case of 15-year-old Marisa Miller "sexting" in which cell phone cameras were used for pornographic encounters. As one prosecutor sighed, "This might become a whole new way of teenage birth control!" Half a nation away, in a Connecticut middle school, concerns over excessive physicality has motivated principal Catherine Williams to order "children may not touch each other in any way, under threat of expulsion."
The God of Genesis said, "It is not good for man to be alone." And so came Eve. But now Silicon Valley keeps generating new widgets by which we can be alone. Live, learn, profit and perhaps even copulate alone. One's head swims.
But then -- just when you aren't sure where all this is leading our cocooning species -- you are struck with the reassuring news from this year's Miss Universe. Upon visiting the Guantanamo Bay military installations, Dayana Mendoza of Venezuela cooed: "I didn't want to leave, it was such a relaxing place to all be together."
Now you see, not everyone wants to be alone after all!
A realtor friend of mine from Florida called after reading this...he mentioned how sub-prime mortgages down there did lot of damage to clients and to him....but he wondered if maybe each of us might have a better chance of recouping our Paradise Lost vs our real estate losses...I didn't have any answer for him...maybe you do!
ReplyDeleteI wish I had some answers, but alas, I do not. I read this blog every other day or so, and will hopefully await others' responses. I could use the advice to give to a friend who was just given 30 days notice to vacate the apartment she has rented for 5+ years as the owner has to move back in due to he and his wife both getting laid off and having to forclose on their dream home. And so the so called "American Dream" goes on....
ReplyDeleteIn the meantime, your words are a wonderful way to escape!
The American Dream -- whether we're conscious of it or not, most of us carry that somewhere in our hearts. Trouble is, like all dreams, it doesn't go on indefinitely. And to paraphrase Neil Sedeka: "Waking up Is Hard To Do."
ReplyDelete