Tea at Trianon: The Illusions of Instant Communication

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Friday, September 21, 2018

The Illusions of Instant Communication

From Return to Order:

The first illusion is that of instant connectivity. It really is not instant, and it often does not connect. People claim they need cell phones for connectivity, especially in cases of an emergency. Phones will always help get ahold of friends and family. However, the small emergency just mentioned proves that technology can fail. In this case, having “instant” connectivity proved little better than the ancient yet ubiquitous pay phone.

However, this illusion of connectivity can be taken one step further when a person comes to be obsessed with the connection itself. The person feels full of anxiety without a constant and instant link with the world. It foments what has been called the fear of missing out syndrome (FOMO). People have the illusion that being connected is a lifeline. Insinuated in this urgent need is the notion that the world cannot live without an instant connection to the individual. The message is: I am important.

Incidents when technology fails show us that the world can get along fine without us. We are not that important. We might as well get something to eat. Some commentators have reported on what they call JOMO – the joy of missing out. There are times when disconnection can be good and improve our well-being. (Read more.)