I
walked to town this afternoon and was greeted by a ‘random man’ walking in the
opposite direction. It made me think about the way society has changed. Technology
has advanced so much that people all over the world are connected to each other
through trade links, call centres, telephone and social media but, despite this
global connection, it seems that we have never be so distant from each other.
We walk around talking on our phones, head down, avoiding eye contact with
people that walk around us. Today I have seen exactly this and it made me think
about me how much society has changed over the years.
When I
talk about a connection, I mean a kind of community connection, that tight
community bond you’ve heard your parents or grandparents talk about back in
‘the good old days’, where everyone knew each other and everyone acknowledged
each other as they walked past. I wonder now where this connection has gone.
Why have we lost this sense of community now that the world has developed to a
stage where actual human interaction can almost be avoided altogether? Is this
really the life we want; one in which we as individuals seem to be emotionally
separate from the rest of society? It is unlikely that, across this vast world,
no one has a community connection but
the majority of us tend to avoid communication with those we don’t know, even
if it’s just to say ‘Good morning’ or ‘Good afternoon’. I think this mainly
exists in developed countries and western society, where there is an abundant
supply of technology available, giving us the opportunity to avoid human
contact.
It
feels to me that we have distanced ourselves from others so much that we can’t begin
to imagine the position, lives, personality and problems of other people. Once,
when I was living back home, I went out with my friends and we were waiting
outside the cinema when a couple of middle-aged men walked in our direction.
They were a bit drunk but one of them said something to us which has stuck in
my mind ever since; that we should put our phones away for ten minutes and try
not to use it within that time. He said that young people are too dependent on
technology these days and that we would experience the world more if our head
wasn’t buried in our phones. Within those ten minutes, several of my friends
brought out their phones again. It really made me think about how we are so
dependent on technology that we can barely live without it for ten minutes.
Maybe we all need to put down our phones, even if only for a short while, and
allow ourselves to realise just how dependent we are. Maybe then we can begin
to connect to society again and form the bond which many of us lack.
I
think that one of the reasons for this distancing is because of the
introduction of CCTV after 9/11. I think that technology has been used to
create fear by media, by amplifying bad news, which seems to be more commercial
than good news. Media warnings and rumours of spies, terrorists and nuclear
wars has made society fearful, thinking that increased security means there is
a threat. This is a topic covered by Didear Bigo, who states that ‘by
reinforcing surveillance over a specific group... securisation has created
insecurisation, fears and the myth’ that people are always under threat and
need constant surveillance (2000: 330).
References
Bigo, D. (2000) When Two
Become One: Internal and External Securitisations in Europe, International Relations Theory and The Politics
of European Integration. Power,
Security and Community, London, Routledge: 171-204.
~ Jones' Journal
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