Thank you for Dialogue vs. Diatribe and The Futilitarian Society
Imagine going to a play where all the actors on the stage—about a hundred of them— were delivering monologues simultaneously.
No interaction between them, all concentrating on their own voices, no dialogue back and forth, just a loud drone of human voices aimed at the audience.
Which one would the audience hear?
How about if the audience participated by starting up their own individual monologues, directed at the stage?
Now, place yourself between the stage and the audience of escalating voices, face the exit door, and scream “I am all alone!”
Let’s call this exercise The Futiliarian Society game.
A society is based on cooperation. Cooperation takes communication.
Communication does not happen on a one way street.
It sometimes seems we are moving into a social neighborhood of one way streets, where very few people ever face each other and wave acknowledgment to one another.
Dialogue is becoming a lost art, replaced by a myriad of diatribes pouring from the mouths of those who are entitled to their opinions, their perceptions, their right to express whatever they see as their own personal truth—no matter the limitation of their view of the world.
I am part of this evolving neighborhood.
I think therefore I blog.
When I blog, I blog alone.
My internal dialogue is limited to a severe lack of debate, exploration external to my own existence, and any resistance to ill formed opinions based on a view from one facet of a very complex diamond—the diamond of Humanity.
I have recently been inspired by a legitimate conversation, in person, with other sentient humans, to ponder the need for authentic dialogue in my own evolution.
I fear an inevitable loneliness that will render me stupid with the advent of technologies that purport to make me more informed.
I fear an isolation that separates me from my fellow humans by replacing them with smoke filled mirrors of sound bytes, ad campaigns, and twittering chirps of waning language skills.
The irony that I am relating these fears, expressing these thoughts on a blog as opposed to running into the street and hugging someone until they speak to me is not beyond me.
I am thankful for the internet and amazed at the connections that have rescued people from a particular kind of isolation.
I am thankful for the information available to those who might otherwise remain in the dark.
And I am wondering today, how to say hello on a one way street toward a futilitarian society that will ignite a dialogue toward exploring all sides of a beautiful diamond while actually holding it in our hands.
~ by leakelley on October 7, 2015.
Posted in alone, Analogy, apathy, Art and Other Lea Kelley Blogs, attitudes, awkward conversations, behavior, Blog community, Blog Culture, Blog friends, Bloggers, blogging, Blogs, change, communication, Community, Conformity, cooperation, creativity, culture, education, human behavior, Human Voice, Humanity, illusions, individuality, information, intimacy, isolation, Language, Life, socialization, society, Talk, Thoughts, truth
Tags: blogging, communication, Dialogues, Humanity, Internet, isolation, loneliness, Monologues, perception, Social Interaction, society, Technology, truth, Twitter
LEA KELLEY SAYING THANK YOU FOR... 
This was incredibly well crafted and thought provoking.
My personal take is that the internet is more isolating then it is connecting, but that is measured in part by personal choices. You can use it for a megaphone. You can use it to supplant, substitute or supplement other human connections.
I can’t be unhappy that I got to read your thoughts here, and I do feel there was value to that experience, even if the medium used makes it easier to know you and still keep you at arms length.
Also… must be said, writing, art, any of it- is informed by the onlooker. Blogging might seem to take the form of a diatribe in some cases, but it isnt a solitary venture.
Thank goodness.
When I was a little girl I used to pick and savor nut pieces from cake because that was the only ingredient I liked (another aberrant food taste). But the point is I only consumed what gave me pleasure. Is that what we are doing now, enjoying the artistic, talented, beautiful side of fellow bloggers and allowing them to taste only that part of us? Not only that, but do we hide these succulent parts of us from those in our “real world?” The thoughts we put here don’t always work well into conversations, and those we know and love–or just know–might not understand. Is that it? Is cyberspace really the ideal environment for quicker, deeper connections? Or are we all “just picking out the nuts?” 🙂
amuirin and anhinga,
Both of you are bloggers who “raise the bar” for me.
I am inspired by your own blogs and respect your writing.
I am sometimes trite, ironic, sardonic, and often I come across in my blog as flippant in my morning “Thank You”.
Yet, it truly is my attempt to integrate my personal and sincere gratitude with my need to connect with thinking people such as the both of you and others who inspire me to participate, from an observer’s point of view, in their stories, poetry, images, and view points on the “diamond”.
Thank you so much for waving back and hearing my small “hello”.