Intellectual honesty requires questioning. Hashtags do not.
Me, “Why?”
Them, “Fuck you for asking!”
This is the typical “conversation” I have regarding anything emotionally charged, today more than ever.
It’s a gosh darn tragedy.
One must question their own beliefs, including how they acquired them, and self criticism.
One must try to answer questions they are asked. And to think you have an answer is foolsih.
We can not entertain every disagreeing person we come across. It can be easier to say, “Sure, 2+2=5.” and move on. And some questions are indicative of ignorance. I can respond to, “Do Jews pray in mosques?” with “Jews pray wherever the fuck we want.” Or I can say, “Jews typically do services in synogugues, facing Jerusalem, based on ancient tradition that Israel and Judea are our home. Like any religion, there are circumstances where people will pray outside of their church. Praying can mean many things.” The only way to combat divisiveness and ignorance is to try to answer things with patience, openness, sources and humility.
I believe the increasing populated world lends to ADHD, which in turn, affects our technology. There are just too many atoms colliding. Newer generations dont have the time to stay focused on a Sunday Newspaper. We struggle to read books, knowing audio books and YouTube videos are more palatable. This may be why I created this blog with a stated goal to say more than what fits on social media.
Ie I am sick of hashtags. I am sick of catchy one liners, elevator pitches and talking points.
I want the girtty details and emotions that technology is pushing away from.
After all, social media is the worst way to handle conversation regarding emotional beliefs. It should be a place to keep pictures of loved ones and find your community. Not a place to get a University-level education or damage another community.
Alas, the 24/7 newscycle was dumbed down from special, hours long segments, to <30 second clips on Snapchat and TikTok. Facebook posts were too rant-y, so people switched to Twitter and IG, with restricted character counts. Writers think more about reducing characters than expanding meaning.
Too many have decided a trending hashtag is truth. It’s not. “A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes” is a line attributed to Mark Twain. He probably never said it, like so many quotes attributed to Abraham J. Lincoln, Hemingway, Chekov, Einstein etc. Hell, Lincoln didn’t even have a middle name, but that didn’t stop me from writing a fake abbreviation.
This is, ironically, a shorter post. Likely an indicator I need to explore solutions more. I just know that people should be proud of reading diverse sources. And reading beyond headlines. They should get rewarded for not doing the bare minimum, like sharing a hashtag or making their profile a Fyre Festival block. But the tiling schemes and “Post a blank square to show you care!” mentality didn’t go away, even after scam after scam playing on these over simplicifications of discousrse. People actually doubled down on it!
Technology needs to treat our psychological and social issues, not exacerbate them. I have not figured out how to do that. But I am trying to. And hopefully this year will release a few apps that this consideration has led me to. Comment how you think technology can benefit discourse in the future, such as real time fact checking and sourcing, preventing toxic discourse and answering questions with more details.
