I have a quote hanging behind my desk that serves as a reminder to me whenever I glance at it. It says, "A society is defined not only by what it creates, but by what it refuses to destroy" (John Sawmill). You can take this quote in many directions. Most would go the "green" route assume it references the environment. Saving the Amazon and all of that good stuff.
I tend to look at the quote in a more broad fashion. Sure, we MUST continue to do what we can to save the natural world, but we must also save parts of our humanity that are slowly dying. One thing that comes to mind right away passion. I see it dying a little everyday. Humans have no passion anymore. Few people have that driving force in their lives that makes them want to face each day with zeal. It is sad. What is the definition of a society without passion?
Another aspect of our humanity that is dying is communication. Or maybe it is just changing? Do we really talk to each other anymore? Do we listen? One could argue that the higher rates of divorce in the United States over the past five years is the result of less communication, amongst other things. Or, perhaps the less credible, but still important personal observation that my students don't speak to each other as much as in the past. I see far too many ear buds inserted into lobes and hear far too little pleasant conversation floating about my classroom.
I believe that our society will be defined in a more positive way if we make more of an effort to retain characteristics of our humanity that are in dire straits. What are some suggestions that you have for promoting a more positive future of creation, rather than destruction?
21 comments:
I see that communication is dying too. Sure, we still talk to each other, but do we listen? Not always. I think many people feel as if they need to be comfortable with others before they communicate with them. We become so absorbed in our own small worlds and our own comfort. We need to be put out of out comfort zones to prove that it's not as hard as some think to- well, talk to each other.
I think that things such as passion and communication need to be taught from a young age and continued on as the child gets older. Some families may teach their kids these things but the real problem is them following up with what they are teaching. I think that by starting to teach at a younger age is a solution that would certainly help.
As for those who are already teenagers I do believe that they can still be taught. It would most definitely be a little harder and take a little longer but I think that it can be done. If teachers simply bring it to their attention and give them ways that they can solve it I think that some students would take what they learn and put it to good use.
That quote really intrigued me in many ways. So many different ideas and matters came to my mind after reading it, and that is sometimes hard to find in a quote. What you are saying about my generation is very true, but I hope to God it doesn't destroy our futures. I on the other hand, don't find myself to be neglectful of others or even lacking that motivational drive. I find myself to be a very confident and passionate person when it comes to the things I love and believe in. Also I am very communicative with others, so much to the point where it can be hard to shut me up. And that Mrs. TStok is something I am sure that even you can believe.
One thing that worries me is all the texting and facebooking that my peers do every day. It fears me that my generation we soon not know how to talk to each other face to face and have a normal conversation, while showing their expressions, without that computer or cell phone screen in the way. Believe it or not, I find all this screen time, to be a waste of time. I would much rather have real face to face conversations with people. I think even by me trying to make the littlest difference, by bringing back that enthusiasm and character into world, can help. I feel this way because maybe, just maybe one person will pick up on my positive way of living life and will do the same thing and eventually pay it forward, helping others come to their senses and realize what they have been missing out on for so long.
"A society is defined not only by what it creates, but by what it refuses to destroy" the first thing that came to mind was not the environment nor did I think of aspects of humanity we must try to retain. It simply makes me think of manmade things we have built in the past that now serve as historical monuments. Rome would not be the same Rome without the Coliseum or its classic, ancient architecture.
What people refuse to destroy…but also by what they create. Technology has greatly evolved in the recent past.
New devices have been created. Such as portable lap tops and cell phones, which have defiantly changed the way our society works. At all times people are able to communicate with people in the other side of the hemisphere, this in turn tears their concentration from their surroundings and from the people who are physically close to them. So, as their virtually closer to the people miles away they are absent for those who are right in the same room. Also verbal communication is dying since teenagers rather write small messages (with poor grammar in most cases) among themselves than actually speak to each other, I think is because they try to engage in multiple conversations at the same time, In reality though, they’re not truly focused in any single one.
The article that we read the other day is a perfect example of how technology is making the world a much smaller place and changing communities of the entire planet.
You also mention passion in this blog and how that is slowly being destructed as the years go by. If this is true it could be extremely deleterious to the future of human kind. If no one is passionate about anything then they’re not going to try very zealously to succeed, and most times that is exactly what is needed to discover and really excel at a task. They would settle for good enough to get by and new discoveries will never be created. Our society would stay at a standstill and it would be impossible for the human race to evolve.
A very wise friend once told me, "where there's a will, there's a way." Now I personally think the "will" in the quote is the passion, so i totally agree with your statement about human beings losing their passion. I know quite a few people that just go through life just to "get by" without really enjoy their life or creating goals for their future. To change the world we must first change ourselves, and that's up to ourselves to change. Ironically, most people don't even have a passion to change. So in theory, I guess were pretty screwed.
I never really noticed that communication and passion are dying until you mentioned it, and I agree with you. I think that people just need to be more aware of things technology is hindering and make sure they do not let it affect them. People can make the simple change of meeting up with someone to talk instead of texting. Yes, things might be easier to say while texting but if you can not say them in person you shouldn't be texting them either. Technological advances are the first thing that came to my mind. Since I myself just got done talking to a friend on facebook it really made me think that this is a real problem. Parents and other adults have to be aware of these things and pass it on to younger generations. If everyone passes on their knowledge of what they could do to help this problem a really wide audience of people can be reached. These are some of ways that you can have more creation and less destruction.
I agree with the quote. And it is very sad to see how our communication is lacking a lot. This also reminds me of when you said the United States united cause of 9/11. We shouldn't need a disaster to bring us all together. I think a lot of people don't to talk to others cause they dont feel comfortable with that person. If you give us a project that we have to work with someone, we will talk to them but only because we know we cant get a good grade one it.
I completely agree with this quote. I think that verbal communication is dying, but obviously communication using technology isn't. Since there are so many social networks, people talk to each other on there, as well as people they don't even know. People will talk to me on the computer but then when they see me in person, it's like we don't even know each other. Comfort is one of the main issues.
I personally don't see it as communication is dying. I think it is changing as we become more technologically advanced. Maybe somethings such as Instant Messaging aren't aiding the force of true communication, but companies are definitely starting to advance in face-to-face communication over the Internet. Now, it is even on cellular phones. So i really do think humans are communicating it's just that its in a different way.
I truly feel that we are getting less sociable every day, and that is a deadly mix of technology and what is now considered to be "social", like social networks. Don't get me wrong- I am all for improving technology but some things I think are just useless. I'm not really fond of some of the activities many people do, like playing video games and using facebook and such, not saying that I don't ever use them. I think, that if every moment spent on those things is spent socializing and enjoying life, that we, all together, would be much better socially and have less trouble. We weren't made to text, for example, we were made to get up and talk.
I agree that we are not speaking to eachother as weused to. I believe it is because of technology, because now all people do is text, even myself. I find myself texting someone that is in the same room as I am just because I got used to it. Communication is very important and we all have to work on it together. I also agree on how you said that in the classroom we don't speak and maybe is because we don't know eachother.And some people just might want to keep opinions to themselves.For example, when we have discussions in class, I personaly don't like participating because I might have a diferent point of view than someone else. And I might be incorrect and I don't want to be embarrased.
I also agree on Stephanie's comment, about what you said about the 9/11, people come together when some disaster happens but after a while they forget, and keep on with their regular lives, the point is to come closer together and stay that way by communicating, and understanding eachother.
To say that a "society is defined not only by what it creates, but by what it refuses to destroy" is a very strong arguement. Many people today would agree with this quote, but even more would not know how to relate this quote to the real world because they themselves are too caught up in a world with less communication and passion.
With all of these technological advances like texting and television, humans are less compelled to actually interact with each other. Presently, less people are passionate about a certain thing as well, because society itself is promoting ideas of less communication and more "personal" time. Whether this is being portrayed through the world unintentionally or not, I do not know, but I would hope that society as a whole would want to repair itself and come together in the near future.
I think that it is true about how physical conversation is fading in our society. However, I think that social networking sites have taken the place of small talk. In ways this can be good and bad. Good because on these sites people express opinions otherwise not heard when in person. You can develop writing skills that will help you out in college and in a job. The downside is people tend to get so comfortable communicating through the internet that they forget how to communicate in person. They cower behind the computer and are afraid to physically start up a conversation. As time goes on I predict that more emphasis will be on communicating through the internet for better or for worse, this is the trend.
I agree that passion and communication are dying in today’s societies. People today are losing their ability to talk to people in person; they're used to texting, emailing, "chatting" on Facebook. We're not used to talking one on one anymore and I think that is making us lose some of our social abilities.
Since all of us grow up in different generations, it is hard to know anything about the people in previous generations, the characteristic they had, and the passion they used. Adults from preceding generations always claim that kids these days lack passion in their social skills; the way they talk and listen to one another. Though I can't actually compare our generation to earlier ones, I do see things in our everyday life that could alter children's social abilities and the passion they put into their conversations. Things like facebook and text messaging prohibit the use of verbal communication between people and many eventually lose their social skills.
I think that communication is not dying. Maybe I believe this because I did not live in the past but I think that communication is just different its more based on texting and facebook. Just because communication is different doesnt mean that its dying. Plus people dont talk in class because the year just started in a couple weeks we will be more comfortable with one another and talk too much.
One of the main things that striked me about this was the part about communication. I agree on how true it is, in the modern world we live today, we may talk. But we miss that face to face conversation we shared so many years ago. Teens and adults alike, communicate through cellphones, text messages and voicenotes. Is that really a way to communicate? With a happy face showing your emotion? I also can relate to how people are losing their passion, I agree in how a lot of people just want to breeze through life. They don't think about the effects of their actions and they simply spend their life just "getting by" and not trying to make a change.
I totally agree with what you are saying. We kids in your class and in general, all kids have lost humanity, and sadly even some adults! With all the new technology to keep us busy we have lost humanity which, like you said, made us lose passion. We could definitely retain characteristics of our humanity by changing a few main things but technology is the main issue. I know I personally never leave somewhere without my phone and I bet you like 99% of other teens will say the same thing. We have a way to communicate through the phone but because we are so use to communicating through phones, we lose the ability to use those skills in person. Having phones in our hands constantly will cause us not to pay attention and if we don’t pay attention then the passion and the drive for other things is gone! To stop the use of phones would be hard, but companies could try raising the prices for the contract so more people would limit the usage. The negative on that is the companies will lose money. Everything connects like the phones, our humanity, and the usage of the phone and the companies.
Truthfully, believe it or not, all these themes of human behavior are interlocked. Because of the facility of technology, we have become sedentary human beings. LAZY! (in a sense). The accessibility to technology has destroyed our yearning to know what intrigues us, to discover, because information and answers are always on our fingertips. Ironically, technology brings those far away from us closer, yet brings those closest to us farther.
Yeah, we do lack communication, I'd say technology is the cause though, we're substituting actual conversation with virtual ones because they're easier ways to contact people in all aspects. I think we can help by making an effort to communicate with others once again and break this silent curse for good, if we do nothing about it we'll soon adapt to only speaking to each other once behind a computer screen or through a phone screen.
The thought of not talking to a woman face to face is really horrific, truly I think that people should talk more expand the politician in them. No technology would take away the ground braking moments of just simple, no technology attach, conversations.
Eventualy the media says that all will be through technology but to me the simple most significant moments are experiencing not the material, but in that which we can't see, like words from a woman, that's my opinion on communication.
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