Hello everyone,
Im going to write about something here that is probably familiar to some of you and I'll try to keep it as short and "unboring" as possible.
So here we go:
I assume that everyone has experienced this feeling of alienation - which can be quite a dreadful one indeed (getting a "knot in the belly" etc.) - in their lives, but what triggers this feeling can be quite different (I guess) from person to person.
One trigger in my case would be (as silly as it may sound) Facebook. I don't have Facebook myself, but I've seen what's going on there (a few times a friend of mine logged into his account on my computer while I was sitting next to him) and some of the stuff on there is just alienating as hell (polls about totally banal stuff, the skinner box-ish games on there etc.). It doesn't make me angry it just makes me sad. I know that other people are just as complex as me (that's one of the most obvious things in the world, though the most obvious things are often the hardest to see...), but the sheer banality and shallowness is unbearable. And I know that Facebook is not only bad nor is it only good; I'm very aware of the benefits of such a thing, but I am only aware of that on a "head level". Emotionally, this thing is still as alienating as fuck (and yes I'm probably too sensitive and I probably shouldnt care, but Facebook is pretty much universal, it can't be ignored...) and what makes it worse is, that all of my friends, close friends and also my girlfriend use Facebook regulary. I know it's their decision wether they want to have an account there or not and I've never (!) tried to convince one of them that they should stop using it etc. I would never do that. But it's still painful in a way; everyone you care about uses this thing (it feels especially alienating in the case of my girlfriend [she told me about one occasion where a couple of her friends where sitting next to each other, starring at their phones, not talking to each other and just looking stuff up on FB...]). It's surprisingly difficult to actually describe why it feels so alienating; I don't really know; the whole thing seems very "cold", superficial and fraudulent (like something is missing, something human; I dont know).
This whole whining probably sounds really silly, redicolous and annoying (I just can't describe it well, I'm sorry), and maybe it sounds like I'm pittying myself and this probably is also really boring (lookt at me, I go all meta 'n' shit), but I would like to hear what you think. (This post is probably already too long, I apologise again).
Another example for what triggers this feeling is pop music. I'm not kidding. The whole thing is just heartless, commercial stuff; it's just distraction. No interesting and maybe more complex and deeper (I feel a bit pretentious) harmonies and melodies nor are their interesting lyrics. Yes it's easy to listen to, but it feels kind of empty to me and just makes me feel kind of lonely (you can go ahead now and call me an emo [which I'm not] or some BS like that).
And again, a lot of people that are close to me (again, especially my GF) like to listen to that kind of stuff and again I accept it and I dont complain about it, and I don't try to talk them out of it. Yes, not all pop music is necessarily shit (that's kind of subjective anyway), but if you've experienced the power of more sophisticated music (rock music in the 60s and 70, classical music, minimal music etc.), then this shallow pop stuff just doesn't compare.
Ok, I'm done. The whole thing has become way too long and boring...
Anyway what do you think?
Im going to write about something here that is probably familiar to some of you and I'll try to keep it as short and "unboring" as possible.
So here we go:
I assume that everyone has experienced this feeling of alienation - which can be quite a dreadful one indeed (getting a "knot in the belly" etc.) - in their lives, but what triggers this feeling can be quite different (I guess) from person to person.
One trigger in my case would be (as silly as it may sound) Facebook. I don't have Facebook myself, but I've seen what's going on there (a few times a friend of mine logged into his account on my computer while I was sitting next to him) and some of the stuff on there is just alienating as hell (polls about totally banal stuff, the skinner box-ish games on there etc.). It doesn't make me angry it just makes me sad. I know that other people are just as complex as me (that's one of the most obvious things in the world, though the most obvious things are often the hardest to see...), but the sheer banality and shallowness is unbearable. And I know that Facebook is not only bad nor is it only good; I'm very aware of the benefits of such a thing, but I am only aware of that on a "head level". Emotionally, this thing is still as alienating as fuck (and yes I'm probably too sensitive and I probably shouldnt care, but Facebook is pretty much universal, it can't be ignored...) and what makes it worse is, that all of my friends, close friends and also my girlfriend use Facebook regulary. I know it's their decision wether they want to have an account there or not and I've never (!) tried to convince one of them that they should stop using it etc. I would never do that. But it's still painful in a way; everyone you care about uses this thing (it feels especially alienating in the case of my girlfriend [she told me about one occasion where a couple of her friends where sitting next to each other, starring at their phones, not talking to each other and just looking stuff up on FB...]). It's surprisingly difficult to actually describe why it feels so alienating; I don't really know; the whole thing seems very "cold", superficial and fraudulent (like something is missing, something human; I dont know).
This whole whining probably sounds really silly, redicolous and annoying (I just can't describe it well, I'm sorry), and maybe it sounds like I'm pittying myself and this probably is also really boring (lookt at me, I go all meta 'n' shit), but I would like to hear what you think. (This post is probably already too long, I apologise again).
Another example for what triggers this feeling is pop music. I'm not kidding. The whole thing is just heartless, commercial stuff; it's just distraction. No interesting and maybe more complex and deeper (I feel a bit pretentious) harmonies and melodies nor are their interesting lyrics. Yes it's easy to listen to, but it feels kind of empty to me and just makes me feel kind of lonely (you can go ahead now and call me an emo [which I'm not] or some BS like that).
And again, a lot of people that are close to me (again, especially my GF) like to listen to that kind of stuff and again I accept it and I dont complain about it, and I don't try to talk them out of it. Yes, not all pop music is necessarily shit (that's kind of subjective anyway), but if you've experienced the power of more sophisticated music (rock music in the 60s and 70, classical music, minimal music etc.), then this shallow pop stuff just doesn't compare.
Ok, I'm done. The whole thing has become way too long and boring...
Anyway what do you think?
