Ramblins' 12-31-2010 Last Edition Section 3

Cocooning -  Cowardliness - Contempt

Some of the pitfalls of the Internet, although they are few, they are there.
Cocooning:
 We've all heard about "Cocooning", which sociologists have been monitoring since the explosion of the Web. Cocooning is the process of social isolation where a society withdraws from physical interaction with each other. This "hermit-like" behavior can lead to the decline of many cultural and social traditions. Cocooning also affects the way we interact with others when we do finally leave the house and meet face to face.

The cocooning caused by the internet removes an essential aspect of communication: body language. Such things as posturing, fidgeting and eye contact all are unconscious transmitters of our true intentions. We learn as small children not to make eye contact when telling a lie and to cross our arms to distance ourselves from unpleasant people or situations. But the computer screen has no way of converting these communication skills into data that can be observed as overtones in the written text of a conversation.

Cocooning may impact the communication skills of future generations. While excelling at expressing themselves through the written word, our children lack the skills to give a convincing speech in public or carry on a comfortable conversation while waiting in line at a grocery store. Some youth even use text messaging to communicate when they are in the same room... let's not even get into the challenges with spelling and normal communication this is causing.

Get away from your computer screen, find outlets where you can talk, share and interact with others in person. It will get you away from the screen, and out into the world. It can also help spark creativity and a drive to keep going when the going gets tough.

Cowardliness:
Cowardliness - (Bullying, Looking for Others to Blame, Not Speaking-up) a word with a lot of underlying meanings. Today's internet has become an enabler of the individual trait, it has enabled individual to hide behind a few key strokes and a click of a mouse. Strange as it may seem, in some cases individuals have used it to their benefit. Recently there were companies giving poor service to customers and then become abusive to them when they called. All this for the sole purpose of getting them to complain on the internet for the purpose of getting ther name to move up on the search engines. Bullying their customers only to get another type of return.

Then we have the individuals (some with legitimate complaints and some questionable complaints) who go online to one of these complaint type sites, post their side of the issue and then; yes you guessed it Mr. or Mrs. Anonymous comes into play. When I have a legitimate complaint I want you to know who I am. This goes further. you have individuals who try to discretely send you a message disguised as an email address (happybirthday@happybirthday.com). Now what most people don't understand that with today's technology almost everything sent on the internet can be traced, so the thought of hiding is not always there and in most cases your complaint is understood.

If you have something on your mind, tell the person directly or don't allow your time to be wasted on negative thoughts... Time is short and this is the last time you will ever get today, for tomorrow, today is a memory.

Contempt:
An ugly word with a lot of meanings:

Contempt Meaning and Definition

·  (n.) An act or expression denoting contempt.

·  (n.) The state of being despised; disgrace; shame.

·  (n.) The act of contemning or despising; the feeling with which one regards that which is esteemed mean, vile, or worthless; disdain; scorn.

·  (n.) Disobedience of the rules, orders, or process of a court of justice, or of rules or orders of a legislative body; disorderly, contemptuous, or insolent language or behavior in presence of a court, tending to disturb its proceedings, or impair the respect due to its authority.

A friend suggests that my recent arguments against the moral status of contempt ignored an important role it plays in policing our moral community. The concern is that if we cannot feel (and expect others to feel) contempt for companies like Enron, then we will lose the morally instructive value of punishment. If we wish to live in a culture that does not encourage people to take advantage of each other, we must collectively judge cheaters and frauds as morally 'less worthy' than non-cheaters and non-frauds. My friend claims that we are all better than Bernie Madoff, and a failure to feel contempt for him would itself be a mistake or error in judgment.

I think this is the heart of the dispute over the value of contempt: proponents of contempt can certainly agree that contempt is often misused, that it short-circuits dialog and even often disguises itself as legitimate when it is not. However, they want to say, contempt can be appropriate. We may disagree on when exactly it is warranted, but we can come to an agreement with enough dialogs, and perhaps we ought to do so.

 

Please take the time to enjoy your life and your time and enjoy, if a bit of turmoil crosses your path in life, brush it aside and move forward, don't let it control the best part of your life and that's what is in front of you.