I am so glad my children just missed the social media revolution. Seeing how much misery it causes in schools, how much time it sucks up, time that is lost from learning while protocol is followed by teachers is horrendous. But the genie is out. Hard to see how to stem the tidal waves of social media. Thanks for pulling it all together in your analysis.
Agreed Michelle. There is a pretty active "phones free" movement led by parents and teachers in the US and UK. We shall see. Expectations for improvement low as always.
Baird, I've been a devoted reader of yours for some time and am always impressed with your trenchant analyses. How do you avoid becoming a misanthrope (like I sometime am) knowing what you do about human nature?
Thanks Michael! I appreciate your friendly readership.
As to your question, what makes you assume I’m NOT a misanthrope?! 😉 It’s like what people say about medicine and politics: they hate the whole thing but Iike their own doctor and representative. So I focus personally on the people I like, and write about the selfishness and stupidity (and occasional brilliance and creativity) of the species here on HUMAN NATURE. So far so good.
A chilling analysis.. a song from my high school years comes to mind- The In Crowd song.
"I'm in with the in crowd, I go where the in crowd goes
I'm in with the in crowd and I know what the in crowd knows
Anytime of the year, don't you hear? Dressing fine, making time
We breeze up and down the street, we get respect from the people we meet.
They make way day or night, they know the in crowd is out of sight
I'm in with the in crowd, I know every latest dance
When you're in with the in crowd, it's so easy to find romance
Any time of the year, don't you hear? If it's square, we ain't there
We make every minute count, our share is always the biggest come out
Other guys imitate us, but the original is still the greatest, in crowd!"
,,,and so on.
It strikes me that there's sort of a mirror symmetry.. the chickens at the bottom of the pecking order can declare that the chickens above them are inferior in some way, morally defective, less educated, etc etc. They conclude that really they themselves are the highest status chickens. If they can persuade enough chickens above them of that claim, then there's an upheaval and readjustment. We may be seeing such a readjustment going on now in our own country
What an interesting topic you've given us to mull over, Baird!
Thanks Michael! A good song lyric can really nail it. I was just reflecting on the words in “Pacing the cage” by Bruce Cockburn. Amazing.
Tribes, pecking order and the struggle for status. It’s the engine for natural selection and evolution spinning out the best and the worst of us. What a species!
That’s a thorough anthropological account of social media. Your conclusion worries me, not because it’s wrong but because it might be right. Forearmed is forewarned.
I am so glad my children just missed the social media revolution. Seeing how much misery it causes in schools, how much time it sucks up, time that is lost from learning while protocol is followed by teachers is horrendous. But the genie is out. Hard to see how to stem the tidal waves of social media. Thanks for pulling it all together in your analysis.
Agreed Michelle. There is a pretty active "phones free" movement led by parents and teachers in the US and UK. We shall see. Expectations for improvement low as always.
Baird, I've been a devoted reader of yours for some time and am always impressed with your trenchant analyses. How do you avoid becoming a misanthrope (like I sometime am) knowing what you do about human nature?
Thanks Michael! I appreciate your friendly readership.
As to your question, what makes you assume I’m NOT a misanthrope?! 😉 It’s like what people say about medicine and politics: they hate the whole thing but Iike their own doctor and representative. So I focus personally on the people I like, and write about the selfishness and stupidity (and occasional brilliance and creativity) of the species here on HUMAN NATURE. So far so good.
A chilling analysis.. a song from my high school years comes to mind- The In Crowd song.
"I'm in with the in crowd, I go where the in crowd goes
I'm in with the in crowd and I know what the in crowd knows
Anytime of the year, don't you hear? Dressing fine, making time
We breeze up and down the street, we get respect from the people we meet.
They make way day or night, they know the in crowd is out of sight
I'm in with the in crowd, I know every latest dance
When you're in with the in crowd, it's so easy to find romance
Any time of the year, don't you hear? If it's square, we ain't there
We make every minute count, our share is always the biggest come out
Other guys imitate us, but the original is still the greatest, in crowd!"
,,,and so on.
It strikes me that there's sort of a mirror symmetry.. the chickens at the bottom of the pecking order can declare that the chickens above them are inferior in some way, morally defective, less educated, etc etc. They conclude that really they themselves are the highest status chickens. If they can persuade enough chickens above them of that claim, then there's an upheaval and readjustment. We may be seeing such a readjustment going on now in our own country
What an interesting topic you've given us to mull over, Baird!
Thanks Michael! A good song lyric can really nail it. I was just reflecting on the words in “Pacing the cage” by Bruce Cockburn. Amazing.
Tribes, pecking order and the struggle for status. It’s the engine for natural selection and evolution spinning out the best and the worst of us. What a species!
I agree..what a species!
That’s a thorough anthropological account of social media. Your conclusion worries me, not because it’s wrong but because it might be right. Forearmed is forewarned.
Thanks Julie! It’s all a bit worrying these days as we rush headlong into an uncertain future. Writing helps with clarifying the worries.