Modern society: the more connected we are, the more disconnected we become

[hanselthecaretaker]

If the Science Guy passes out and nobody tweets it, did it happen?
By Brett Michael Dykes

Last night in front of an audience of hundreds at a presentation at the University of Southern California, TV personality Bill Nye — popularly known as the "Science Guy" — collapsed midsentence as he walked toward a podium. Early indications are that Nye is OK, but what's odd about the incident isn't so much Nye's slight health setback as the crowd's reaction. Or, more precisely, its nonreaction, according to several accounts.

It appears that the students in attendance, rather than getting up from their seats to rush to Nye's aid, instead pulled out their mobile devices to post information about Nye's loss of consciousness.

Alastair Fairbanks, a USC senior in attendance for Nye's presentation, told the Los Angeles Times that "nobody went to his aid at the very beginning when he first collapsed — that just perplexed me beyond reason." The student added, "Instead, I saw students texting and updating their Twitter statuses. It was just all a very bizarre evening."

Indeed, a cursory search on Twitter revealed a virtual play-by-play account of the incident. One student wrote, "Bill Nye tripped on his computer cord while speaking at USC, was out for abt 5 secs, got back up, spoke w/ slurred speech and fainted."
According to the school's student news outlet, the Daily Trojan, Nye asked, "What happened? How long was I out?" when he regained consciousness. Briskly picking up his humorous persona, he added, "Wow, that was crazy. I feel like Lady Gaga or something." Nye's publicity team didn't immediately respond to The Lookout's request for comment on the episode.

Still, in the annals of the digital public's civic indifference, the Nye incident is nowhere near as disturbing as another episode reported in New Orleans earlier this week, which oddly enough also involved a humorist. Anthony Barre, a New Orleans man popular for his acid-tongued comic performances on YouTube using the handle "Messy Mya," was murdered on the streets of the city's 7th Ward — the historically Creole neighborhood chronicled in the HBO series "Treme." As he lay dying, witnesses at the scene took to the Internet to chronicle the tragedy in real time, even posting photos of his body lying in a pool of blood.

Here's how the Times-Picayune's Brendan McCarthy described the incident:

Moments after gunshots roared through the 7th Ward on Sunday night, a lone snapshot appeared on the Internet.
In it, a 22-year-old man is lying cheek to the ground, crimson pooling around his neck. His eyes are closed, his torso curled.
Chaos explodes around him, with the arms of others pressed to the back of his head. And someone is holding a cell phone just inches from his face.

This is how the world learned of Messy Mya's death.

Prior to this week's episodes, perhaps the best-known incident of youthful digital passivity in the face of danger was the September 2007 tasing of University of Florida student Andrew Meyer at a speech delivered by Massachusetts Democratic Sen. John Kerry. That episode immortalized the expression "Don't tase me, bro!" The crowd of onlookers trying to capture the encounter on their cellphone cameras later prompted Comedy Central host Stephen Colbert to imagine the internal monologue of a bored-looking kid seated next to Meyer thusly: "He's thinking, 'I wish they'd stop tasing this guy, so I can get home and watch him being tased on YouTube.' "

If the Science Guy passes out and nobody tweets it, did it happen? - Yahoo! News

Have people always been like this, or is humanity really slipping? I hear about classrooms today being full of misfit, idiot kids that can't behave. College classrooms. Man when I was in high school I got suspended two days for flipping someone the bird. Our school had its shit together and kids turned out better as a result. I'd hate to see what the hell it's like now.

 

[-SD-]

I have to admit since the advent of high speed connectivity to anything and everything that my capacity for patience has dropped a lot. I just get pissed off easier when i dont get what i want when i want it. I blame my constant "connectedness" to everything

 

[shirlene29]

its really like that...I lost faith in humanity (an irrational belief people were inherently good) a while ago due to something like the above examples
including a paramedic partner who'd txt about calls while on the call..while asking a patient questions

my oldests daughters school district has banned the use of social networking sites, cell phones etc etc..and has strongly encouraged parents to do the same at home



yes, people have become that "plugged in"

 

[miplank]

you gotta be a complete fucking retard to get on your phone rather than help someone that obviously needs it.

 

[bakemeacookie]

i call b.s. If he fell, i'm sure someone right next to him probably went to his aid. I doubt he fell and everyone including his assistants just sat there. Even in the subway when someone falls, someone tries to help them. Article fail while trying to make it's point.

But yeah people who live online but never venture out to meet and talk to people - become more disconnected. Kinda like us here - we talk to each other all day but have zero desire to meet each other.

c

 

[cw801]

I also lose faith in humanity quite a bit these days.....with forums and social sites and everyone having such ready access to what they think and feel every second....it shows waaaaay too much of a lot of people. People don't care what they say anymore, politeness and respect for people's feelings are pretty much extinct.....people just blab whatever they are thinking at that very moment, good or bad, cruel or nice....it's like what the world would be if we could all read minds. I personally don't want to know what everyone is thinking at every minute.....makes me dislike people in general. I am slowly learning to unplug.......it's hard, however, when the only way I can reach most people is by plugging in!

 

[lartinos]

This is true. Just as kids play video games instead
Stickball/basketball

 

[ceo]

I also lose faith in humanity quite a bit these days.....with forums and social sites and everyone having such ready access to what they think and feel every second....it shows waaaaay too much of a lot of people. People don't care what they say anymore, politeness and respect for people's feelings are pretty much extinct.....people just blab whatever they are thinking at that very moment, good or bad, cruel or nice....it's like what the world would be if we could all read minds. I personally don't want to know what everyone is thinking at every minute.....makes me dislike people in general. I am slowly learning to unplug.......it's hard, however, when the only way I can reach most people is by plugging in!

Hey! I'll have you know I've been like that since long before the internet came around!!

 

[cw801]

Lol!!!

 

[b0und]

Hang on, the house next door is on fire, let me tweet that first.

Should I take a picture of it so I can post it on facebook?



















b0und ( )

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

i call b.s. If he fell, i'm sure someone right next to him probably went to his aid. I doubt he fell and everyone including his assistants just sat there. Even in the subway when someone falls, someone tries to help them. Article fail while trying to make it's point.

But yeah people who live online but never venture out to meet and talk to people - become more disconnected. Kinda like us here - we talk to each other all day but have zero desire to meet each other.

c

Here's another source, from your neck of the woods no less!-

Tristan Camacho, a USC senior who attended the lecture, said Nye was walking toward the podium when he collapsed mid-sentence.
"Then after about 10 seconds, he popped back up with much gusto and asked everybody how long he was out for and went on with a story about how a similar thing happened to him that morning," Camacho said.

Nye appeared determined to finish his presentation but began slurring his words and stumbled against his laptop, Camacho said.

At first, Nye refused the offer of a chair and continued taking sips from a water bottle. Camacho said Nye was eventually removed from the stage.

Bill Nye appears fine after collapsing during USC talk | L.A. NOW | Los Angeles Times



For the record I've met a few people from here. All have been good experiences

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

This is true. Just as kids play video games instead
Stickball/basketball

The thing is, back when I was a kid, I played videogames with other kids who were actually sitting in front of the TV with me. We'd take turns trying to beat a game on the highest difficulty. While this type of thing still exists it's far from the current norm of going online to pwn people while talking trash through a headset and building stats.

But what do people expect when both parents are working, crime and dysfunctional neighborhoods on the rise so the Xbox looks more and more like a cost effective and trustworthy alternative to a babysitter. Videogame addiction, like any, is just a by-product of a much bigger problem.

 

[uamaverick]

The thing is, back when I was a kid, I played videogames with other kids who were actually sitting in front of the TV with me. We'd take turns trying to beat a game on the highest difficulty. While this type of thing still exists it's far from the current norm of going online to pwn people while talking trash through a headset and building stats.

But what do people expect when both parents are working, crime and dysfunctional neighborhoods on the rise so the Xbox looks more and more like a cost effective and trustworthy alternative to a babysitter. Videogame addiction, like any, is just a by-product of a much bigger problem.

This is so dead on accurate I don't know where to start.

 

[EnderJE]

I have to admit since the advent of high speed connectivity to anything and everything that my capacity for patience has dropped a lot. I just get pissed off easier when i dont get what i want when i want it. I blame my constant "connectedness" to everything

Really? I blame it on the fact that you're a douche.

But seriously, I read about how connected but disconnected we are awhile back. I'm trying to find that article now.

 

[KillahBee]

Much like every other "the new XYZ is ruining this world" proclamation, I think the reality is in the gray area. We've all read, discussed and probably thought ourselves about the irony of a more connected world actually leading us all closer down the path of solitude. FB friends vs. in-the-flesh friends, etc.

To me, it's never been about the technology or innovation of the day. That shit will come and go in a never ending cycle. What remains the same (relatively speaking) is us. We still have a choice, we still have self control (though it's a nearly extinct characteristic), we still have the ability to utilize new technology as we see fit. The person who spends 8 hours a day on Facebook and places strong emphasis on the number of online friends he has - that's not a function of "evil technology", it's a deficiency in him. Our level of connectedness is absolutely astonishing and has already (in its relative infancy) led to some absolutely mind-blowing changes in the way we live our daily lives (many of which can be positive). But, like everything else, if misused it can be detrimental to our well being.

I'm actually working on a white paper right now that ties The Selfish Gene (assuming some of you have read it) to the New World Order we're discussing here. Sort of a revision of Maslow's thoughts on our needs and desires. Humans have always looked to information sharing as a way to socialize, establish value in the tribe and earn attention. That hasn't changed. What has changed, however, is the fact that we now have a remarkable quantity and variety of easily accessible media through which we can share that information. And that's created a whole new way to define ourselves within groups. We've always had the strong need to fit in, but "fitting in" used to mean being a part of the local tribe that influenced you. Now those walls have been fucking demolished and "local", while still existing, has lost its luster.

Kinda cool, kinda scary. End of the day, I'm still me and I still have the choice to use any tools put in front of me in any way I see fit. Just so happens that most people are only willing to define "choice" by how the rest of the group is behaving.

(PS - the upside to all this is that there are tremendous holes just waiting to be filled in by the courageous, the creative and those willing to fail)

/early morning psychotic rant

 

[cindylou]

I also lose faith in humanity quite a bit these days.....with forums and social sites and everyone having such ready access to what they think and feel every second....it shows waaaaay too much of a lot of people. People don't care what they say anymore, politeness and respect for people's feelings are pretty much extinct.....people just blab whatever they are thinking at that very moment, good or bad, cruel or nice....it's like what the world would be if we could all read minds. I personally don't want to know what everyone is thinking at every minute.....makes me dislike people in general. I am slowly learning to unplug.......it's hard, however, when the only way I can reach most people is by plugging in!

I agree. I don't share very much online or IRL, but either way in both places I don't enjoy hurting people. I feel like I'm rare like that and I shouldn't be. I don't like to hurt people's feelings and I don't understand people that do.

 

[-SD-]

Really? I blame it on the fact that you're a douche.

But seriously, I read about how connected but disconnected we are awhile back. I'm trying to find that article now.

I remember that article, cant remember which mag.

My problem is I have to constantly stay connected because of work. Since Im an independant contractor i cant just clock out at 5pm and forget about it.