Being a Five- Light town, Brattleboro , has long been kept in a fishbowl where its local activities are open to public view in the tri-state area.
iBrattleboro, on the other hand, is in a virtual fishbowl where all manner of lively extranet conversations take place.
As a species of the genus microcosmos, we worldkins here are not far removed from a city of 8 million. The superficial differences are obvious but this corner piece of real-estate, proportionately speaking, has a knit of a tighter weave that is a daily, simulated reality of character interaction.
Faceless, disembodied corpora verbally engage each other with alternating opinions, beliefs and motivations fluctuating between the agreeable, conflicted, informative, uncertain and unresolved points of view. All with a decidedly unflinching animated verve.
The topic can be anything from climate change to skateboarding to drones to Ecclesiastes and beyond.
The condition of our opinions are almost a product of natural selection where we are born with what makes us tick, believe, think and know, and/or, we are a result of our environmental influences.
The evolution of the human mind is now on a fast track vacillating between brilliance and dissolution.
We seek simple solutions but create overly complex opinions, anger and actions around much of our dialogue that suggests that we can and will never “all get along.”
And, as Harve Binger cried from the wilderness, “No matter how much time we spend dreaming between the stars and the moon here on Earth, if we don’t get our act together it’s our children who will pay the price wherever they are.”
Sadly, many of our young people know that and cringe at the virtual and bodied incessant bloody infighting.
~Vidda
Thar She Blows!
Many have had the experience as I have, of joining a whale watch, and heading off on glassy seas…only to have the chop rise once land is out of view.
And invariably, first one, then others are drawn to the rail..not for a gaze at undersea life, but to spew acids and undigested matter.
The impulse is to resist the heave-ho at all costs, but as each shipmate in turn succumbs, we ourselves, in cramp and clamp, inevitably join the volleying.
Occasionally, you’ll find some salty dog, other than the captain, who can contain themselves. But once the purge is underway, the tide grabbing, not falling overboard into doom is the best outcome one can hope for.
Types
Well, as long as we’re being obtuse, here are a few thoughts on why we’ll never all get along. First, an anecdote. A long time ago, I took a Meyers Briggs seminar. After taking the test, our teacher sorted us into groups of six and had us do a little problem solving exercise. Our group quickly came up with a solution that all but one of us liked. Unfortunately, the one who didn’t like it got VERY upset and almost left the class over it. At that point our teacher revealed to us that five of us were one type while the person who found our process (or lack thereof) so upsetting was a very different type. It was a pretty dramatic demonstration of how different people’s personalities and styles can be.
I also have my own version of the “men are from mars, women are from venus” meme although I don’t think it’s gender based. I see a lot of people, men and women, who are very into reason and science and rational thinking. These people (as I stereotype them) prefer sports to art, construction to gardens, and generally favor a pragmatic view of life. It’s typically male but lots of women think this way too.
The flip side of the coin represents those who rely on intuition as well as thinking to solve problems, and who think arts are as important as sciences. These are people who may prefer beauty to modernization, or quality of life over profits. Some may even harbor new age beliefs or believe in meaningful dreams. This is more typical of a feminine stereotype, but lots of men fall into this type too.
In the broadest of strokes, I would go so far as to argue that conservatives are from Mars, liberals are from Venus.
Mad generalizations aside, it’s hard to see how everyone is ever going to get along although there are times when we agree, even if it’s for different reasons. I’ve also heard that during bona fide disasters, natural or otherwise, people tend to give up their philosophical (i.e., made up) differences for the common cause.
Fun Party Game Idea!
Try reading this comment in an old sea captain or pirate’s voice. Is really fun.
Katherine Hepburn too!
lol !
I just read it in a shakey, Connecticut Yankee Katherine Hepburn voice !!
So cool!
uh...
Just to be clear…I meant your post Vidda, not Lise’s.
Yep
Oh I didn’t think you meant Lise’s post, you meant mine. So did I.
My post is stylized enough to play around with voices. I wanted to write something offbeat but still within the context of a serious topic.