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I think, therefore I am. - René Descartes
Change or Perish
By ROGER COHEN
Published: October 4, 2010
LONDON — Before leggings, when there were letters, before texts and tweets, when there was time, before speed cameras, when you could speed, before graffiti management companies, when cities had souls, we managed just the same.
Before homogenization, when there was mystery, before aggregation, when the original had value, before digital, when there was vinyl, before Made in China, when there was Mao, before stress management, when there was romance, we had the impression we were doing all right.
Before apps, when there were attention spans, before “I’ve got five bars,” when bars were for boozing, before ring-tone selection, when the phone rang, before high-net-worth individuals, when love was all you needed, before hype, when there was Hendrix, we got by just the same.
Before social media, when we were social, before thumb-typing, when a thumb hitched a ride, before de-friending, when a friend was for life, before online conduct, when you conducted yourself, before “content,” when we told stories, we did get by all the same.
Before non-state actors, when states commanded, before the Bangalore back office, when jobs stayed put, before globalization, when wars were cold, we did manage O.K., it seemed.
Before celebrities, when there were stars, before Google maps, when compasses were internal, before umbilical online-ism, when we off-lined our lives, before virtual flirtation, when legs touched, we felt we managed all the same.
Before identity theft, when nobody could steal you, before global positioning systems, when we were lost, before 24/7 monitoring and alerts by text and e-mail, when there was idleness, before spin doctors, when there was character, before e-readers, when pages were turned, we did get by just the same.
Before organic, when carrots weren’t categorized, before derivatives, when your mortgage was local, before global warming, when we feared nuclear winters, before “save the planet,” when we lived in our corners, before the Greens, when we faced the Reds, it seemed we did somehow manage just the same.
Or did we? Before iPads and “Search,” in the era of print, before portable devices, when there were diaries, before the weather channel, when forecasts were farcical, before movies-on-demand, when movies were demanding, before chains and brands, in the time of the samizdat, before curved shower curtain rods, when they were straight, before productivity gains, when Britain produced things, and so did Ohio, did we really and honestly get by just the same?
Before January cherries, when fruit had seasons, before global sushi, when you ate what you got, before deep-fried Mars bars, when fish were what fried, before New World wine, when wine was tannic, before fast food and slow food, when food just was, before plate-size cookies, when greed was contained, before fusion, in scattered division, before the obesity onslaught, in our ordinariness, could we — could we — have gotten by all the same?
Before dystopia, when utopia beckoned, before rap, in Zappa’s time, before attention deficit disorders, when people turned on, before the new Prohibition, when lunches were liquid, before Lady Gaga, when we dug the Dead, before “join the conversation,” when things were disjointed, before Facebook, when there was Camelot, before reality shows, when things were real, yes, I believe we got by just the same.
Before “I’ll call you back,” when people made dates, before algorithms, when there was aimlessness, before attitude, when there was apathy, before YouTube, when there was you and me, before Gore-Tex, in the damp, before sweat-resistant fabric, when sweat was sexy, before high-tech sneakers, as we walked the walk, before remotes, in the era of distance, I’m sure we managed just the same.
Before “carbon neutral,” when carbon copied, before synching, when we lived unprompted, before multiplatform, when pen met paper, before profiling, when there was privacy, before cloud computing, when life was earthy, before a billion bits of distraction, when there were lulls, before “silent cars,” when there was silence, before virtual community, in a world with borders, before cut-and-paste, to the tap of the Selectra, before the megabyte, in disorder, before information overload, when streets were for wandering, before “sustainable,” in the heretofore, before CCTV, in invisibility, before networks, in the galaxy of strangeness, my impression, unless I’m wrong, is that we got by quite O.K.
Before I forget, while there is time, for the years pass and we don’t get younger, before the wiring accelerates, while I can pause, let me summon it back, that fragment from somewhere, that phrase that goes: “The bourgeoisie cannot exist without constantly revolutionizing the instruments of production ... and with them the whole relations of society.”
Yes, that was Marx, when he was right, before he went wrong, when he observed, before he imagined, with terrible consequences for the 20th century.
And if back in that century — back when exactly? — in the time before the tremendous technological leap, in the time of mists and drabness and dreams, if back then, without passwords, we managed just the same, even in black and white, and certainly not in hi-def, or even 3-D, how strange to think we had to change everything or we would not be managing at all.
I appreciate you encouragement and understanding, as always.
He did get his reward as you put it: a confidence gained from the competition which would be benefitial to him for his whole life! Yes, I am proud of him.
Great weekend! and more updates later~~
Thank you so much for the sharing – I have enjoyed savoring the comments equally as Cohn’s writing.
The 1st one: As the comment contains so much philosophical flair, I could not believe this is from a 27 year old, who in most cases should be on the other camp as opposed to what’s been discussed in Cohn’s essay. It gives me an instant mental comfort to know there's someone out there, armed with a calm mind, looking at the human’s state of being in the light of existentialism. This is a voice that you don’t hear often here in the US, where pragmatism dominates every nook and cranny.
More interestingly, he connects the dots between this alienation of pop culture with the current political arena where there are no shortage of contemptible buffoons who perform antics. The point he tries to make deserves a lengthy discussion. But I just wanted to say he really drives home the argument by just bringing it up.
Yeah, let’s “go for a walk in the woods”, forget about the cell phone, forget about the laptop, all that modern fancy gadgets, and indulge ourselves in a untouched and authentic nature, and have a heart-to-heart touch with nothing in between. :-)
Wow! I am happy to know ZZ and his team have made that far. What an accomplishment! For a kid, it’s absolutely not a small thing. I am pretty sure the victory would instill a seed of confidence in him, from which he will benefit all his life. You should be proud of him, and yourself, too - all that painstaking efforts you and Mr. Darcy have put into, now it's a reward time. Really happy for you!
Comment 1:
Your column-styled meditations always come as welcome reminders of what is truly valuable in this life. You conjure such resonant images of a past, not so far behind, in which pure, humanity-affirming moments and genuine connections came far more easily. As a 27 year-old, I am not sure how deeply members of my generation are affected by these images. Yet I know that I personally feel an unmistakable gaping hole in our collective ability to connect to one another in meaningful ways, and I am quite certain that the huge, rapid advancements in technology and online-life bear a large responsibility for this lack. When I look around myself I see a world of anxiety and uncertainty filled with people constantly seeking out mind-numbing activities like facebook and reality-tv to avoid confrontation with their inner sense of alienation. Our souls seem to collectively become smaller and weaker as we share less and less. We live in a constant state of distraction and need collective healing.
For years as I was coming of age, I wasn’t sure if I was just projecting my own sense of alienation upon the outer-world, but at this point it is pretty clear that I am not alone in my struggle to unearth my own heart and allow it to flourish in harmony with the hearts of others. I am not alone in thinking that all authenticity has been trampled and buried by smallness and triviality.
I can’t help but think that this context of smallness and triviality in which we live is partly responsible for the rise and sustained popularity of absolutely vacuous figures like Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin. Would a country that has its collective mental health in check actually pay more than two seconds of attention to the drivel that these people spew?
I am not sure what the path to collective healing is, but collective acknowledgment of our addiction to distraction seems to be the first step.
Comment2:
From the perspective of my 70th year, my first, and certainly unoriginal, thought is that every generation has said much the same of the generation before. But then...
On second thought, maybe this time it really is different. This time, the brush of technology is so broad and has bristles so long and sharp, that it reaches into every nook and cranny of our lives, making avoidance, or at least a respite from it, something that we have to work ever harder to obtain.
This article is a "keeper", to be kept on the desktop (wood or electronic!). Cohen has done much more than just compare the old times and new times; he has provided an important checklist of things that we might choose to ignore or turn off when we feel crushed by the need to "keep up"; when we desperately need a quiet rock on which to center ourselves. This is the time to go for a walk in the woods, preferably with a small child, and see and feel, through those unpolluted eyes and ears, the pure and essential roots of our being and relationships.
Thank you, Mr. Cohen!
Okay, some soccer update~~~
ZZ's team won a silver medal in their first regional game!
There were some intense moments during the games and I've never seen this team playing such physical games and was quite impressed and thrilled.
He played the mid-Defender for all 4 games and never had a single break since there are only 10 members in the team while other teams normally would have 12 or more.
The most rewarding fact, seeing and playing top teams in the region and now they have a clear picture of the competitive level they are looking to achieve in both training and games.
Have a great week!