(OVER) SHARED-CONSCIOUSNESS

To go around 'poking' everyone on Facebook is fun; the after-effects from the ricochet, well... not so much. The blanket statement is of course very relative. But hear me out, anyway.

A miracle of technology that came to pass; the world-so-connected is even more tightly-knit. Everyday interactions have become so 'excessively-detailed'  and intricacies that are inclusive of microscopic-attention-to-details; make us want to pull the emergency hatch to 'oh god please kill me now.'

The level of shared consciousness alone, which has been achieved, its just magical! A joke cracked in Hollywood generates the same laughter here in Bhutan. Bhutan-so-far-far-away!(:-). considering how communications was such impossibility years back, it unfoubtedly remains an unbelievable feat [but the moment's over for the 'Once upon a good thing'].

SO What did spoil it all?...

Supposedly, the thing that happened where it originated... well it is happening here and now. Just like any easy wish that eadily came true, things have started to soak in the dye of undesirability.

Every day the 'annoying' gets a new layer of uneasiness.

On deeper contemplation, it's a 'no-brainer' how it all got to be so queasy. 

Person XYZ on Facebook breaks news followed by regular status-updates on details about morning rituals of gargling; characteristics and color of a heavily downloaded 'residue' in the commode. 

They are, simply said, not required-ingredients for general conversation, general salutations or ice-breaker at gatherings.


Them ingredients of news, being highly unpleasant, not to mention downright disgusting you are already scarred for the day, 'cause even if ignored they feature repeatedly in your chson of thoughts like a rolling movie imprinted at the back of your overly-interactive mind that is connected to the over-sharing world wide web of information.

Get this, in social gathering,  some conference or perhaps even in the streets, you can actually zero-in on faces and remember them as the fine netizens from the highly unsocial social media. All thanks to and, courtesy of  unleashed and unrestrained sharing on - everything.

Its a public consultation workshop you happen to attend, you notice the woman sitting ten chairs away is a familiar face. No, you have not met her personally! Not ever, but you  know she got bruised in love, she had a binge and purge session the previous night, and that she still has a "bad hangover from an awesome night-out."


And the mook in torn jeans who in his online profile describes himself as an extremely 'young at heart 30+ dude,' who goes around passing lewd comments on random pictures of people. In  reality he's a "30+ family man" donning decent apparel, with a kid and lady companion. Talk about self defamation... man!

If you look around, there's No such commodity in existence that goes by the name of Privacy. It is actually on a downhill dive from a mile high roller coaster. Surprisingly, there is no grievance over this little extinction... prying minds are engrossed in more peeping and open minds are liberally in their comfort-zones.

At work, its a head-on competition for time between adding friends online and deleting workload on the desk. Alluring gadgets and games to try out, irresistible applications to download or finish work before-time? - For an open weekend!  And while we're at that, almost 24-7, we can kiss our 4x4 vision- goodbye, cause eyes are the only peepers employable both on and offline. Take heed!

In your next soul-searching session, if you find yourself all empty and castaway from life (although you have 900+ friends on facebook and an unbelievably busy 'net-life' in cyberspace), do gather will power enough to really take a walk in the park, revisit real people.

There might be some awkward situations, especially about smart-ass comments and supposedly harmless wisecracks. Serious explanations ahead huh?

Still, the fate of many is not what is described here, because judgement is still swift in many cases. And luxury of sense does send them to reach for prompt 'settings' to keep wayward minds at bay.

Supposedly, one good aspect of the social-media, is that it does bring people together and keep them connected.

If you miss some important events on some days, you can participate online, with gracious wishes and generous adjectives. And although, people are disembodied and devoid of actual human-touch and presence, but a good level of that guilt is removed by tapping online substitutes.

In a similar situation to circumstances above, in an experiment; parents who didn't pick-up their kids on time were fined by the day-cares. The experiment concluded that the guilt of making very 'late appearances' is compensated by paying a fine, and hence parents showed up even later than before. 

Nonetheless, the highly-connecting network does have its shining moments. 

People would never have personally interacted or socialized with neighbors who are, sometimes a short-walk-away or just downstairs, but they have never missed out in commenting on photos and wishing goodwill on their message boards and 'walls' for their anniversary celebrations, new born's naming ceremonies etc. In fact they are even up-to-date about intimate future plans of strangers connected to them through other strangers. All thanks to the social media communities.