I guess one is never too old to learn. New tricks for old dogs? Possibly. Or maybe simply yet another challenge to a tired aching head as one faces a daily challenge in reading and understanding new terms, new definitions, new slang (mostly either inane or deriving from contrasting meanings, hence making no sense) and of very short lifespans. New combinations. New definitions. And most pitifully, foolish adults trying to look oh so 'hip'. as they use outdated terms to indicate their current immersion in the words and thoughts pf the times.
In any case here are two new terms, at least for me, from yesterday's New York Times Business section. One is "annoyance economy". While initially the meaning might be a tad elusive, it truly is not and, in fact, is a relevant term for the economy worldwide, as we find yet another interface among humankind, the same exasperation and identical faces of annoyance and frustration. Its definition is actually quite simple. We certainly do understand it and nod our heads in agreement upon explanation.
Think of how many minutes, adding up to hours. adding up to days, do we squander when trying to get through to somebody. A human being, a real one, no avatar clearly incapable of understanding the nuances of your issues and thus unable to answer.
Then you spend even more wasted time speaking your need into the phone or screen and then ending up shouting at something which does not internalize that shouting and frustration. Aha! Victory. A person whose name and accent match each other, though you might not understand what is being said on the other end of the phone, the other end of the screen, whatever works for one.
We desire so greatly to hear a human voice. To connect to one who might be sympathetic as the same thing has occurred to him/her. Then, when in fact finally achieving what appears to be a victory, a human, it ends in yet more wasted moments. Your "human" is actually revealed to be an avatar on a chat box of one type or another. Or the human connection turns out to be rather useless, yet another wasted moment as the information necessary to resolve the matter is simply not there. And back one goes to the beginning.
So, what is annoyance economy? It is all those moments adding up to hours and hours and hours. And millions and millions of dollars. Those moments affect the global economy, in whatever language, in whatever country, as they subtract from the economy. The monetary value of those wasted moments become detrimental to the overall economic structure of a nation, of the world. The more positive effects of moments resulting in positive addition to the economy. productive efforts, do not find their moment in time. Bottom line: a liability rather than an asset, to the tune of 165 billion dollars.
The other term is more of an emotional and/or psychological bent of a nation or individuals. Solipsistic. An extreme egocentricity of someone so self-centered that he cannot or will not validate the existence of others. He cannot convince himself, perhaps not wanting to do so, that anything outside of his own mind can be truly real. Reality is only what he validates for himself. Extraneous people, events, etc. are real only within his mind and his truths.
Now try to develop a positive lifestyle with that hanging around one's head. Counted as a real part of reality only if part of the makeup and set of beliefs of the individual affected by solipsism. What one thinks and conjectures is that which can be trusted. Reality exists only within oneself, engendering a selfishness and an inability to correctly interact with the truth of the world. With all others not accepted nor seen as part of that individual's warped sense of reality, the extreme crippling solipsism.
Unfortunately, the world has become increasingly so. crippled, in fact. We have enabled, even encouraged and raised generations of children who "knew” their importance. Who adopted and adapted to the world they were given. The world they had to survive within. Who valued themselves, saw themselves as the center of the world. All that was not validated by and with their mind, their own conceptions of reality, by the structures of that mind are not actually accepted as valid, nor real.
This is the world that we have engendered. We raised generations of children who built a world around themselves that fit their conceptions. They became more involved and immersed within these rather warped ideas of these values and effects of this syndrome, solipsism. So deeply attached to their own visions, thoughts, and valuations of the world to the point where all that was, that is, that remains real to them is themselves.
How, in fact, does one build a world for a future rife with uncertainty. Where people walk by others, not seeing them? Uncertain of, denying of, nor truly trusting in their reality. How does one build and maintain a world of certainty but also allows for some doubt which in fact often gives way to new thoughts and ideas. To positive steps forward. How, in fact, can one differentiate the distinction between good and bad? How do we learn to care for another if we care only for our self-centered world. If we cannot find within ourselves a realization of our connections to and with and for each other?
Obviously not all are afflicted by this syndrome in the same manner to the same degree. A growth of a sense of disconnect from the world, the resulting loneliness, always living in a world befogged with loneliness, confusion and selfishness, no true confidence re what one sees and hears, the thoughts projected by others. Suffice it to say, it bodes no good for any and all individuals, and nations alike.
Somehow, and soon, we must find a way to heal those wounded by this. To gather them within the fold. To create ties with each other. To find a place within a world that is far larger than their own mind. I do not see any such person capable of doing this. I see no true pathways through to the implementation of that which is needed to fix this world. Yes, perhaps a bit here and a bit there, but these bits and pieces have not yet coalesced into a whole or something approaching a whole allowing for hope. For an improved world.
Yesterday was a mixed bag.
Today the weight against positivity grows heavier.
Tomorrow will reveal to us our path of choice.
The choice has always been there. So it will continue to be. It rests upon our shoulders. Our ability to thrust aside the selfishness which consumes us. Allow for goodness and interconnections to grow.
So it has always been. So it will always be.
All on us.
Only us.
When will we ever realize that?
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