Desensitized

I got the idea for my focus this year from reading an interview with Sue Coe.

In it she had a small anecdote of how one night she saw a man in the street screaming that he was blind and couldn't see; she was scared of him and had to talk it over in her head before she went over and helped him.

It made me think how were brought up on a culture of fear, we fear each other. There's no sense of brotherhood among us. This made me think of the ways we separate ourselves; gender, culture, religion, race, opinions, age etc

I think its because with the mass use of the internet we are suddenly connected to everyone. Small fish being dropped into an ocean, so we strive to stand out and be different; we advertise ourselves with social media, letting the world know every thought. This gives everyone a catalogue of information on people they meet and they can decide whether they wish to interact with you based on that information.
With this being the norm, when you meet people out in the open its a worrying experience, we don't know all about them. We've become secure in knowledge and without it we feel vulnerable and uncertain.

For example; Hitch hiking.  My parents used to Hitch hike and so did people they know. Now I don't know anyone who has ever hitch hiked somewhere. Now were all too aware that some hitch hikers were murdered at some point and now we fear strangers in case they pose the same threat.

All this made me think of this generations exposure to Technology and how its changed the way we act. In some ways we are a lot more fearful; scared of strangers/what they might do. But in other ways it has desensitised us; we were born into a generation where news is world wide with video footage, we've seen countless examples of natural disasters, freak accidents and others bad decisions. So it doesn't really phase us.

This picture was about the over sharing of opinions and how things are exaggerated over the internet. Like mixing skittle in a bowl with M&Ms and serving them at a party: there was out roar among the internet commenters on how this was Satan's work and the worst thing ever. But the reaction over massive natural disasters is no where near the same.
We've started to care more about things that directly link to ourselves, something we personally understand. We all live in our own bubble; seeing the world through devices. Like people who go to music gigs and watch the entire thing through the video recorder on their phones/devices.

Fear of other in everyday life

* Ignoring homeless people asking for money:

* People being loud and hysterical on public transport

* Crossing the road to avoid having to pass people

*Stranger danger is ingrained into children from a young age

* sitting on seats in public, always avoid sitting next to a stranger

Technology is now ingrained in our lives.