COIN of the (New) REALM ??
Looking back seven decades, I'm struck by the revolutionary changes taking place in the definition, character, and function of Inter-personal Relationships. I have spent the past half-century working on most of the leading edge technologies that have driven these revolutionary changes. We've entered a new realm, in which the "coin of the realm" is not the dollar amount of your wealth; it is the real value of your inter-personal relationships. "Friendships" on social media are NOT real relationships; anymore that "reality" T.V. is real. The human mind is not well suited for this "overload" of pretend reality we use to entertain ourselves, today. For escape, in my youth, I curled up in the warmth of our coal stove and read a book! It is becoming more rare to meet children who read anything; unless they're required to do it.
Modern communication technologies have diminished, trending toward elimination, of social distance between human beings. Because we no longer have the use of "distance" in our ability to regulate our relationships, we more readily "catch" the pathologies of others around us. Televised media alters "reality" for all of us.
We also live in a world in which the pathologies and social attitudes of the past have had centuries to become embedded in our institutions (think: religions, justice system, public education, politics, economics, etc.).
We all seek to "avoid" negative aspects of our society; but find it harder to do. Consider the one juror in the Zimmerman trial who was "pressured" by the other jurors into doing what she personally thought was "wrong". She has no where to go to get relief ,or absolution!
For those of us who have the misfortune, while we are very young, to be 'steeped' in extreme religions, or regional social attitudes, it can take extreme energy and dedication to overcome them. Because of advances in telecommunications, we can suffer on one side of our planet from religious beliefs emanating from the opposite side. The "social soup" we live in becomes more and more toxic daily.
What must be done? We first have to study and understand the differences between "information" and "propaganda". We have to invest the time and energy required to develop and maintain "real" relationships in our lives. We "borrow" relationships at our peril.
There are traditional values that still work for human beings. They work; despite whatever religious or social attitudes we "inherit". We can start with our "families", then branch out into our "communities". We "inherit" our families, but do not have to remain constrained by even those relationships. One benefit of the new telecommunications can be new ability to carefully build our interpersonal "community" of relationships; regardless of race, nationality, or religion.
Stay Vigilant! Relationships are "real" only when they are two-way; and both sides are equally nourished.
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