I suppose it
shouldn't surprise me one little bit that of all the things humans could use
something as powerful and amazing as the Internet for, we quite often fall into
what one might term the sewer.
After all, if
you walk into a shiny new high tech grocery store, you're still bound to find
gossip magazines in a rack by the check-out. This is true even if the grocery
store is in the most posh section of town.
Have y'all seen
some of the headlines on Internet "news" feeds lately? Here's one: "Friends Told
Her To Do Mortifying Thing." And, just in case the words aren't graphic enough,
it comes with a video.
I don't want to
see someone I don't even know (or anyone I do know, for that matter), experience
a mortifying moment. I mean, really, why would I? That's something I tend to
file under the heading, "TMI". And yet, I have to acknowledge that probably
enough people go for something like that so as to justify having the item
available in the first place. Actually, there's a "watch this dork make an ass
of him or herself" kind of video available for your viewing pleasure every week,
it seems.
How about this
one: "Baby Boomers versus Generation Y. Are their whines
justified?" I didn't "click" on that one, either, but I can tell you with
confidence, the answer, in my opinion, is no. Whines are never justified—that is
why we call them `whines' instead of `concerns' or `challenges' or
`issues'.
If neither of
those headlines grabs you, how about: "Kid Embarrasses Mom Trying To Get Her
Attention." Yawn. I mean, really? Kids have been embarrassing their moms to get
their attention since there have been kids and moms. Move on,
folks!
I'm not a
snob—I'm really not. But I do guard my intellectual capital somewhat. I tend to
want to use it for things that have some redeeming value. If I am going to spend
time reading, I want to read something that will either entertain me, or inform
me. I want that time I invest to have a purpose and to give me
something—knowledge or pleasure—as my return on investment. I read news articles
and I read essays on topics that snag my interest and I can promise you that the
name Kim Kardashian is nowhere in sight while I do. I am newly hopeful because
as I just wrote that last sentence my MS word spell checker put a red squiggly
line under the surname.
All is not going
to hell in a hand basket after all.
And it's not
that I don't waste time from time to time, because I can assure you, that I do.
I am as capable of being silly or frivolous as the next person. I suppose I just
really hate the idea that someone somewhere does something foolish or
unfortunate and the next thing you know a video goes up, that video goes viral,
and that poor person's faux pas is there for everyone to see.
Imagine being
that person!
We've all
probably had a dream at least once in our lives, of going somewhere public
either in our pyjamas, or underwear, or even naked. We've awakened from that
dream feeling horrible—embarrassed, maybe sick to our stomachs, and very, very
small.
This is, I
suppose one of our primal fears, translated to modern times. I think humans have
a basic fear of being singled out, inadequate, the slowest, if you will, in the
herd. We fear being the one who's in danger of getting left behind to end up as
food for the fast-approaching predator.
You might be
laughing at that analogy, but think about it for a moment, and you'll
(hopefully) begin to see my point. And maybe that analysis is the answer to my
question of why we give valuable national/international `space' to a video that
shows some poor schmuck being humiliated in the first place.
Maybe we do it
and watch them because it gives us a false sense of security: as long as it's
happening to someone else, it isn't happening to us.
Love,
Morgan
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