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I think, in general, people don't know how to communicate.
Communication includes listening AND speaking. Many can speak, few can listen.
When they do listen, their lack of comprehension leads them straight to anger. Rather than thinking about what you're saying, or asking you to restate your position, they choose anger/rage over thoughtful reflection.
Their lack of listening skills means that on the rare occasion they do consume news, they don't have the critical thinking skills to process the validity of the information they're being fed.
Two normal /rational people can discuss sensitive topics all day long without rancor or rage. The fact that some topics are "too sensitive for the dinner table" is a sad reflection on our society
Not only listening but reading comprehension is missing. Most people will read things all wrong. Or skip over vital pieces of information. I know I’ve done that myself. I try to avoid it but no one is perfect.
The problem with trying to have a conversation is most people are thinking of what to say in response to something rather than listening to the other person.
I have noticed this rise in bizarre behavior as well, both online and in person. I am friendly with an older gentleman at the gym and we will chit chat about things here and there for a few moments periodically. One day he noticed a certain news station wasn't working on the treadmill he was on and he walked up to me saying it was a conspiracy that the one news channel he watches wasn't on that day (it was just fuzzy as the gym uses satellite) so he went around to everyone who would listen to him ranting and raving about how the gym was out to muzzle this particular side of the aisle. He even followed up with me a week later to say he went to corporate to complain about that one channel not working that day on "his" treadmill.
This is just one small example, things like this seem to occur almost daily now where people seem to be living in an alternate reality. I think there are many reasons for this, namely social media and the filth that is posted daily that is only meant to get a rise out of the lesser educated folks who are unable to understand how they are being emotionally manipulated.
In quite a few social situations, people talk on and on endlessly as if they love to hear the sound of their own voices.
They seem to want attention and dominate any conversation. It doesn’t matter whether there is any substance to what they’re saying.
We have become a society of chatterboxes.
We have become a society without manners or social rules. In the 60s the baby boomers decided such things were silly and now we have to pay for it.
If you look at the social rules of years ago there was an understanding that people were terrible... and the rules were to make it so people could get to know each other - before running away.
But there are also a lot of crazy people these days. I blame laws closing mental hospitals.
There are some people who just can't help themselves. They need to drag politics or other hot button issue into almost every discussion. The key is to say nothing.
They HATE that especially if they know or suspect you might disagree.
LOL. Just had that happen very recently, about Taylor Swift.
My niece sent me a Taylor Swift concert t-shirt. I wear it about once a month on the pickleball court.
It was a good 2 minute rant and rave about how Taylor this, Taylor that, and that Taylor's politics are ruining America.
Even managed to tie in Trump's criminal trial to Taylor.
I was like Wow , this is some good stuff.
Believe it was Keanu Reeves who said 2+2=5, Okay, have a nice day.
If you struck up a conversation with me on public transit, I'd think you're the weirdo off his rocker, and I'd respond with a very short and general statement, and then bring across very clearly with my body language that I'm not interested in further interaction.
Having been raised in the city, I find it profoundly strange when people expect more than basic courtesy from a stranger.
If you struck up a conversation with me on public transit, I'd think you're the weirdo off his rocker, and I'd respond with a very short and general statement, and then bring across very clearly with my body language that I'm not interested in further interaction.
Having been raised in the city, I find it profoundly strange when people expect more than basic courtesy from a stranger.
OK. I can see how you might think that. But that stranger may not be a wierdo; he may just be a Southerner.
Southerners talk to each other all the time. But to your point, that doesn't mean we all listen and he may not pick up on your body language at all.
Here's something that happened to me once: LINK
I did not pick my name, Listener, by chance. I picked it as a constant reminder to myself to listen. I made my career in sales and learned that listening encompasses everything about what the other person is doing as well as what he is saying. A lot of what people say, I think, is posturing in one form or another. People will reveal their innermost thought, sometimes, when speaking under their breath.
The art of public speaking is taught. The art of listening is not. That actually says a lot about our modern society.
Will it all change?.... I don't see why it would.
In quite a few social situations, people talk on and on endlessly as if they love to hear the sound of their own voices.
They seem to want attention and dominate any conversation. It doesn’t matter whether or not there is any substance to what they’re saying.
Why speak 10,000 words when 10 will do?
I used to attend a networking meeting once a month where you'd be seated around a table with others and get one minute each to answer various questions. There was an hourglass timer at each table. I finally stopped going because there were always 1 or 2 people who ignored the timer and kept going on and on, preventing others from getting their chance to talk. I was tempted to start doing a "slit throat" gesture but was afraid it would be too hostile.
Based on the driving skills (lack of) I see I'm inclined to think that many people are not as normal as they once were.
I would NEVER talk to anyone about politics unless I knew they were on my wavelength, anything else is asking for trouble.
What to blame peoples poor behavior on? My opinion is smartphones, dividing attention constantly, demanding attention RIGHT NOW. Multi-tasking is really not working but people feel compelled to do it in order to fit all the things on their agenda into the time allowed. Hang up and drive. Pay attention to what is important.
The tiny little dopamine hits provided by social media is a MAJOR and much under-estimated change to society. Smarter people than I believe it is actually rewiring people's brains, especially the youngsters who have never known anything else. It's not a natural state of social affairs, and is a huge paradigm shift. And mostly not for the good. Distracted driving is only one manifestation. Distracted thinking, not thinking, disordered thinking in general is the result.
The famous study analysis of what percent of people actually think is also telling, in that the 5 percent who do, may not be "allowed" to see all the information to analyze. When that occurs you have to ask yourself why?
Plus the following thread which gets to why it is so hard to find a common ground across people in today's world as they have been bifurcated and 'market segmented' to a point of granularity to give identity (and sell thing$) while being dumbed down to be programmable consumption units.
Adam Curtis' BBC Documentaries, in particular, have great insight into what has occurred.
The Century of Self, 2002
Hypernormalization, 2016
If you are encountering the strange types out and about, as another mentioned, the removal of mental hospitals has greatly populated the environment with "off their rocker" types.
Between the overarching laziness to seek a pill to fix a medical concern (rather than changing lifestyle / nutrition etc) to buying something to make themselves "happy", or form of escape from dreary lives in entertainment venues etc. There is a growing amplification of amplified volume / frequency / velocity to get the herd 'propelled'.
In the course of doing this it has made more people "off their rocker"; discontented, angry and easily prompted by flashpoint images/issues used upon them like a cattle prod via addict-able tools. Most every business has become casino-ized in its marketing techniques (especially via internet means) i.e. trying to make consumers a 'captive' audience.
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. You may find this thread helpful in addressing same issue. 