Sunday, September 25, 2005

Trivialisation

*I suddenly realize it's a very good thing you can't see my titles, since some of them are completely irrelevant to my blogpost XD*

Some time ago: (Not in exact words, perhaps not in exact statements either. The gist is there though."

"Zhang, how'd you feel about IYE?"
"I felt damn sad."
"..."
"But I'm sure you felt worse because of that thing (I remember quite clearly he said 'thing'."

Quite sad, isn't it? Trivialisation.

Since when, have in our entire lives, have our feelings been trivialised, bastardized, distorted into THINGS? Has an exposure of one's feelings towards the outside world via the blogosphere resulted in everyone taking things so important such as feelings as for granted?

The blogosphere has in a sense became a voice for the people that cannot have their own opinions in real life. Also, it's become a vent of feelings for the people who cannot express them in real life.

Look at what that's got us.

Imagine this conversation between two people (Context being the past)

"...I feel so damn depressed, Herr."
"Yeah, I know, I read on your website."

That would've been an alien conversation in the past. Now? Replace 'website' with 'blog' and suddenly it doesn't seem weird in the least bit.

Feelings, in the past, have been considered precious and important to us. People treated them with quite a level of respect, but why? Because back then, you needed to be friends with someone before you actually could get 'access' to his feelings, and the best of friends knew exactly how the other felt at that point of time. What about now?

The blog, while giving us a 'shortcut' to voicing our opinions and expressing our feelings, has also inversely given EVERYONE else a shortcut to knowing your opinions and understanding your feelings.

When people have such ready access to material things, they generally take it for granted. Also, when people have such abundance of immaterial things, they also generally take it for granted (Use faith as an example. Look at all those Christians out there who can say clearly that they will go to Heaven. How clear IS it that this is so? Perhaps this is not too good an example, but I'm sure you readers can consider a few others.)

Now, with the blogosphere's easy accessibility, one's feelings has become one of those immaterial things taken for granted. Now feelings are some sort of everyday thing. Unrespected for and eventually trivialised. Sad, isn't it?

I suppose, this is the result of exposing your feelings on the blog, just like those who got arrested for exposing their opinions on their blogs.

--------------------------------------------------------------

Nevermind, onto something more towards us, and less generalized.

More recently (On Kev Low):

KW: But I never thought of it that way, that people liked him only for his humour?
Me: The 'having people liking me for my humour, and not for who I am', is pure paranoia, that's why you've never thought of it that way.
Me: If you don't believe it's paranoia, ask Jun Yi. >_>
KW: Hmm, but who he is _is_ humour...
KW: To an extent, isn't it...?

Wow, first the reduction of feelings to things, now the reduction of humans into things. But that's not my main concern. >_>

Y'know, maybe the reason why Kevin Low has the opinion that people like him because of his sense of humour and not because of whom he is,

is kinda because you've given him that opinion?

Everyone can go on about how they treat their friends as true friends and not as mere entities subject to their manipulation, but geez, prove it by things apart from words, dangit! *That said, conversation technically counts as something more of an action than words XD*

Haiz. Go ahead. But if you only talk about all of his qualities, and not just humour, when he's sad that you only view him in terms of humour, chances are that you'll revert back to viewing him only in terms of humour once he's fine again, and this will repeat. Ad Nauseum, ne?

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