The challenge was going good. I hadn't used any means of communication and I had made it through the middle of my day. Class was out and it was a beautiful autumn afternoon. I made it back in front of my dorm at 1:45, where I then preceded to stay outside playing soccer, smoking cigarettes, hackysacking, mashunga (nerf swords), chatting with people and then more hackysack. It was great to be outside being active for so long. I was bummed when 5:30 rolled around and it was time for me to go to my 3 hour math class. (The thought still sends chills up the back). Regardless, I was still set on the the fact I could go the 24 hours. I had already adopted the mindset of a old-aged hippie, thinking that technology was our downfall and just by playing outside for a few hours I had freed myself. Turns out I was wrong.
T-minus 23 minutes till the end of my math class, my good friend from Champlain calls me. (I had left my phone on me for emergencies). I saw the call and ignored it, determined to abstain from these communication vehicles. Then she calls again. Then once more. At this point I obviously could tell she needed to get a hold of me but I was in class and could not answer the phone. While I sat in class debating if I would break my challenge after class, she texted me, so I decided to cheat just to see the importance of her calls. Turns out, it was very important. She had had a seizure in the school library and was taken to the hospital. She was calling me to tell me what happened and that she was under care but alright. This set me on edge. At this point the challenge was no longer important. I spent the next few hours on the phone texting my friend and others trying to figure out if I should/could go to the hospital. This is when the second event hit me. My good friend from back home texts me. He just asked how I was doing and we were having casual conversation, it helped to calm my nerves. That's when he springs into discussion on how he isn't doing well at community college and he has a horrible feeling of stagnation and failure. At this point this was not the best thing that could have happened but I was determined to be a good friend. I spent a significant amount of time on the phone with him texting back in forth trying to give advice and cheer him up. To what extent I was successful is still unknown to me but for now it is irrelevant. What is important is the gravity of what communication is. The fact that you live inside your own brain and can communicate to yourself seamlessly, somehow distorts the way we view talking with others. Essentially all communication has a vehicle of somesort. It could be verbal or technology based, there always is that link between everyone. This is what was so profound in this assignment. It makes you uncomfortable because you feel like you can't share your message and can receive them, as well.
That is why I failed the challenge because I had too many messages incoming. I can't ascertain if that is a positive or a negative yet. However, the most interesting fact is that as humans we theoretically could live is solitude but there is something that is so tangible about communication and sharing with other people. That lead to my downfall in the assignment. If I cared about me and only me the challenge would have been easy. Instead, I found myself worrying and trying to fix problems that only stemmed from other people. I hope to believe that this comes from a good nature and a decently caring personality. But it would be interesting to find out if there was more at play here. It could possibly be one of the great human mysteries, we have yet to find out. What are the relationships between solitude, communication, technology and human tendencies?
No comments:
Post a Comment