podcast recording #2 global villiage

Media has shaped our view of the world, from word of mouth to newspapers to TV news. With the development of smartphones and global connectivity, we are constantly bombarded with information from around the world. While this makes us feel connected, it also distracts us from what truly matters in our daily lives. We are more interested in global news and celebrity gossip than personal conversations with friends. This phenomenon, known as the spectacle, is driven by social media and screens. However, there are still places and people who are disconnected from this global village and seem happier. We should learn from them and take breaks from the spectacle to gain clarity. As our world has developed, media has shaped how we view everything. At the beginning, news was spread through word of mouth, images on cave walls, then letters between powerful figures great distances apart. It transformed further, humanity mass-produced newspapers, which became television, and then news stations. Although TV news may have been the logical stopping point, the pinnacle of mass media delivery, we kept going. As phones got smaller, they were exponentially able to do more. Call a relative? Smaller. Email your boss? Smaller. Text your best friend? Smaller. They made personal communications easier. So why not? Let's give them news too. As the technological network grew, humanity became increasingly more linked, known as the global village. This network made every human being connected at all times, wherever they were. This network spread like a virus, multiplying and duplicating itself in the lives of the entire world. An excess of information was available on anything, at any time, accessible by anyone. Despite making people more connected and informed, it also resulted in the world becoming enamored with things they had nothing to do with. An earthquake on an island in the Pacific, a new bill passed in Florida, a current election in a random Canadian province, or a tragedy in the Middle East. It's amazing that these global stories are even being told on a local level. But to a degree, it makes it hard to focus on the things that really matter. These huge worldwide problems seem gargantuan, even from afar, and despite having little bearing on our lives, we feel connected to them because this worldwide network has made for us to feel that way. This is the spectacle. Thanks to the global village, this endless barrage of information has distracted our society from things closest to them, whether it be global news, upcoming events, or seeing what your friend is up to through their Instagram story. It has reduced our daily lives to seek stimulation from other people and places rather than what we have going on. When you call up a friend or sit down with one and have lunch, it's rarely followed anymore by questions about their life. No more, how was your day? Or how's work been? Now it's, did you hear what happened in Russia this morning? Or did you see Taylor Swift at the Super Bowl? The world has been like this for a long time, before most of us were even born at this point. But as time goes on, it's a tendency that continues to develop. Meaningful conversations about personal interests and hobbies have been replaced by the overindulgence in information that we are ultimately detached from. We have little to no impact on other countries, most people's lives, the daily routines of celebrities, or even TikTok influencers, yet we're still so engrossed with them. In a similar matter, all these examples also barely impact us. This is what we've been warned our society would become, a worldwide community driven and controlled by social media and what we see on screens all around us. We fall victim to this spectacle whenever we enter a room, we pick up our phones, or even when we sit down in class, get bored, and just start scrolling on Instagram, Twitter, or wherever it may be. Supported by the near instant communication network, this spectacle is spread to everyone all over the world with almost no limit. There's very few places and people in the world free from the global village. While those places are almost pitied by modern society for their lack of connectivity, they seem happier than most of us. They have their struggles, of course, but their life is simpler. They have the liberty to focus on themselves because that's sort of all they know. I think we can learn something from these people. We don't have to completely remove ourselves from the global village, nothing that extreme, but we should try and step away from it for a bit. Even though it can be hard to take our eyes off the spectacle, I believe we can gain a lot of clarity just by looking away for a little bit.