Anti-social behavior in its cleanest incarnation

Found at: daily.stanford.edu/article/2008/4/4/naturalPhilosophyNeverTalkToStrangers

There was a point in my life when I realized that the whole “never talk to strangers” thing only applies to likely pedophiles. Around my tenth birthday, I discovered that there can be no real harm in talking to strangers, assuming they do not have a crustache (a crusty mustache to the uninitiated) or large tinted glasses. In fact, talking to strangers is necessary sometimes, and often beneficial. You can learn things and meet people.

But it seems, these days, people take this phrase entirely too literally. When I see someone walking around with iPod headphones dangling out of his ears, I can generally assume that this person does not want to talk to me. For that matter, it seems he doesn’t want to talk to anyone. His headphones say loudly that right now he chooses social seclusion over human contact.

My only conclusion is this: it has become socially acceptable to be anti-social. This is the only conclusion I can arrive at, considering the alternatives. For one, it just can’t be the case that the music is so good that he has to listen to it right then and there. I get my Zeppelin cravings as much as the next guy, but never do I feel that if I don’t listen to it right now I will explode. It also can’t be the case that Led Zeppelin perfectly fits this current instant, in the elevator. And, even if the song did happen to exactly fit his mood at that given instant, is it necessary to play it at the exclusion of the world around you?

The problem with headphones is that they create “your world.” “Oh, he’s caught up in his own world, “ people say. But it seems that these headphone-clad individuals are blind to the fact that “my world” and “your world” might very well be the same thing.

It’s not just headphones. Text messaging is just as bad. It is glorified anti-social behavior in its cleanest incarnation. Cleanest because you’re still “communicating.” But how often have you heard “you don’t have to call, just send a text message?” Text messaging is an excuse to avoid the awkward reality that is voice-to-voice communication.

Add to this the escapist element of text messaging — you don’t ever have to mentally be in the room that your body actually occupies. The moment you have to actually interact with other, physical beings, you can take out your cell phone and start sending messages to other people, in other places!

As the phone has reduced the burden of speaking face-to-face, so the text message has reduced the burden of speaking voice-to-voice. At some point, text messages themselves will become too personal, and we’ll need random text generators to take away the idea that you have to interact with a human being at all.

I love technology, don’t get me wrong. But I don’t want to have to ponder this philosophical query every time a friend with headphones in is deaf to my greetings, or I get “stranded” in the same room with someone overly dependent on a cell phone.

Led Zeppelin can wait. The world around you cannot.