Ali and Alley both had very interesting posts regarding the seemingly endless self-maintenance of social image. Ali illustrated "constant busyness," writing about her involvement at school while Alley responded to Ali with a fortification of being constantly busy by pointing out what a reputation requires now through expressive mediums online, all while still continuing a physically-social presentation.
The two posts are interestingly put and make some great points, but before I begin with my response to both I want to provide a memory of being a child in order to support the maelstrom of Modernity that we experience today.
Growing up I strived for opportunities to prove myself. Whether it be making my bed when my siblings didn't, comforting someone experiencing trouble or, as I grew older, doing things such as constantly revising my MySpace page to stay ahead of trends. Eager for any opportunity, I suddenly became inundated. Here I was, my whole life, sitting at at the dinner table, just starving, desperately awaiting for my parents to put the food on the table to chow down on and then just overnight I wake up to find out I would be eating from an endless buffet - for the rest of my life.
Endless food relates to being a child and then coming onto the idea of picking a college (as well as many other life-pivoting descions at that time), any college - from liberal arts to a state university. While at the same time that metaphor is only to growing up, I believe "growing up" can also be metaphoric to Modernity, and well, not to so loosely combine these not-at-all-confusing-yet-so-similiar terms, Post-Modernity.
Ali, you ask "Does Modernity force us into this fascination with being very busy and constantly occupied?" and I don't think your question could have been more appropriate regarding the topic. upon reading your post and then following with Alley's response to the post, I came up with some of my own thoughts on the topic and question you asked.
While it is no doubt that as you put "we are never actually not busy, always entertained by TV or our phones," I wonder that if the excess amount of opportunity in society today that gives us a feeling, or almost inept instinct, to constantly consume various mediums that provide constant, real-time checks on events, our peers, and the entire world around us. As Alley said, we as humans are extremely competitive, and as she got into social media tools and concluded with how it is nearly unrealistic to divide our attention in such ways to maintain a fully-constructed reputational presence, what she revealed was the idea of this unattainable opportunity to fulfill ones potential.
There's a pleasure in your text, Jack! And it's a pleasurable read.
ReplyDeleteTo play further: How does language (and metaphor) play with this endless chase you describe:
Metaphors partially structure our everyday and this structure is reflected in our literal language. Consider this example of ordinary expressions under the title, “Ideas as Fashion”: That idea went out of style years ago. I hear sociobiology is in these days. Marxism is currently fashionable in western Europe. That idea is old hat! That’s an outdated idea. What are the new trends in English criticism? Old-fashioned notions have no place in today’s society. He keeps up-to-date by reading the New York Review of books. Berkeley is the center of avant-garde thought. Semiotics has become quite chic. The idea of revolution is no longer in vogue in the United States. (Ulmer, Text Book 98).