Reminiscing is an interesting pastime.
We live in a world of ever-increasing immediacy; of instant gratification. We can look at that an objectively say things along the line of "isn't it cool that we don't have to WAIT so long for that!"
I suppose I should preface these words with the disclosure that I am getting older, which also means that I am old enough to reflect on the fact that even though we have gained some benefits, we have also lost something.
What could we possibly have lost?
Longing.
In some sense, our world of immediacy is making the human experience of longing obsolete. Is that necessarily a bad thing? Maybe not — if you stick to an entirely functional interpretation — but it is definitely an integral part of the human experience that has been with us for millennia.
We are becoming increasingly accustomed to the idea that when we want something, we can have it immediately. There is no waiting. There is no longing to have something you want... until you can actually get it.
I even experienced it this past weekend with my artwork at the fair... someone wanting to know if I could do something in a specific pattern/color. Which, of course, I could... but they "didn't want to wait."
It was almost as if the expectation was that I would somehow 3D-print what they wanted, on the spot.
Development and "Progress..."
I suppose we could just call it "progress," and it would be true... but there is still something lost.
It is definitely more practical to tap away at a computer keyboard than a typewriter... but I also recognize that I will likely never hear a sound like my mother's Corona, when she was corresponding with friends.
The idea of sending a handwritten (love?) letter and having to wait and wonder when a reply might come... and what would be in that letter... gone.
I suppose that part of what I am lamenting is that part of our sense of imagination is slipping away, because why would you need to imagine if you can always have the object of your desires immediately?
I found myself thinking about "Mail order" and the whole idea of sending away for things... same day delivery by Amazon? Not a thing.
You put a stamp on the envelope with your order form and check... and maybe ten days later what you'd ordered would show up and it all felt a bit like Christmas morning.
Relational Shortcuts... Another Loss
For me, one of the places the "loss" is perhaps greatest is in the way we form connections... truly getting to know someone has increasingly been replaced by the immediacy of "swipe right."
Convenient, perhaps... but it leaves us typically living at the surface; never getting beyond what immediately meets the eye.
Small wonder, then, that a deep commitment like marriage is also on the decline. Tinder sure as hell isn't going to tell you enough about someone to make such a commitment!
So is it all a "bad" thing? Or is our current state "good?"
I'm going to refrain from characterizing it in such a way and simply stick to the original premise that we are losing meaningful human experiences and emotions as a result of our increasingly immediate world.
Thanks for reading, and have a great remainder of the week!
What do YOU think? Is our drive for immediacy making certain parts of the human experiencve extinct? Will "longing" become an obsolete idea? What will that mean for us, as a species? Comments, feedback and other interaction is invited and welcomed! Because — after all — SOCIAL content is about interacting, right? Leave a comment — share your experiences — be part of the conversation!
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Created at 20220727 16:02 PDT
0615/1861