Doug's Sounding Board

Every once in awhile I hear this from Nicole and others. Sometimes it’s “people” sometimes it’s “kids.” It always makes me laugh inside because for a moment the person saying it sounds like a stereotypical old person from some show.

In the past I’ve thought that the people today aren’t much different from the people in the past. One generation is always complaining about the upcoming one. But I think there are some differences and trends that do create differences between people today and those from earlier. And I think these things also made the previous generation the “people today” for the generation before them.

It’s all Hitler’s fault! Not really, but the differention that is at the heart of the complaints seems to have started at the end of World War II with the troops coming home. During that time there was a big push to the suburbs. Cheap suburban homes were built to accomodate all the troops coming home and instead of returning to crowded cities where you had to interact with people on a regular basis, everyone had a little space of their own. Aside from this new found personal space leading to the baby boom, it was also the first step towards personal privacy on a scale not seen before. People had their own retreat. People still talked to their neighbors and made friends with them because old habits die hard and people like to share their experiences.

Next came the automobile everyone had to have. The Model-T did its job and brought the cheap car to the masses, but it wasn’t something you would want to spend a lot of time in. The 50s became a time of explosive growth for cars. Cars suddently looked cool and with the prosperity after the war everyone could afford one. With the car mania can all the services that could support cars. Now restaurants had you eating in cars, you could watch movies in cars, and you could listen to the radio in cars. No need to eat with others, or interact with others in shared entertainment like gathering around the radio or sitting with others in a theater. You still had gatherings because televisions were expensive and the programming was only on for a few hours a day so everyone gathered to watch those shows.

Moving into the 60s radios got smaller and you could carry them with you easily. Stereos got cheaper so people could have their music in their own rooms. Cars continued their growth. All of these things work towards giving people the ability to isolate themselves to their own space even if their space is shared.

The 70s brought about more portable music sources in the form of cassette tapes and more portable playing devices, and headphones started to become common for more isolation from others.

The 80s saw computers start to gain acceptance in the home but there was nothing about them that the average person would want to use on a regular basis. Some people got sucked in but for the average person it wasn’t anything. Home video rentals and cable became big players and many people didn’t see a reason to go to a theater if they could just wait and watch it in their homes and away from the crowds. But small headphones showed up as well as compact discs. These weren’t any more portable than tapes, but they gave people the same quality they would get at home in any device that would play them. Less reason to be in your own space to be in your own “space.”

The 90s saw portable video games start up, portable digital music players which made music even more portable, and even small headphones. People can immerse themselves in their electronic entertainments without carrying too much. Home theaters became popular, giving people similar experiences at home as could be found in a movie theater. People found they could better isolate themselves in their home without the high prices, and hey, home popcorn is just as good for them.

The internet also burst on to the scene and had explosive growth. The internet allowed people to share their experiences with more people than ever before. People became glued to their computers with the new sharing freedom. At the same time it allowed them to share anonymously which means they didn’t have to care for the feelings of others or worry about any consequences for anything they said.

In the 00s digital music players could now carry hundreds of albums in the space of a pack of playing cards and could be listened to on tiny headphones. Complete immersion was possible. Video game devices were better and lasted longer on their batteries. The internet continues to be an outlet without much in the way of consequence.

So what is wrong with people today? People continue to want and continue to get devices andentertainments that allow them to be isolated from one another. When they are isolated they don’t learn or remember how best to communicate with others or interact in other ways. They become selfish since it’s all about them in their personal world of entertainment. In that personal world why do the others matter?