Life is better with a little Laughter! Don’t you agree? But, do you see random smiling faces on the streets, in shopping malls, public places these days? Let me rephrase my question, When was the last time you had a really good laugh on a joke, a meme, a forward, or on a ‘satirical’ statement without being prejudiced! Or if you have cracked a lively joke on a friend and never really felt the urge to justify yourself.
Do you recall those funny tiny tubes on TV called ‘Just for Laughs’, oh man! I had a fun time watching random people getting cranked by those hilarious pranksters. But today such content feels like alien or offensive. Have you ever thought why? Is it a lifestyle shift or getting robotic with out humanly emotions? Or we are just running after life, not fulfilling its real purpose – to live.
Are we becoming overly sensitive to fun?
Let me share a real life incident here –
A couple of months back I read a random post on a ‘Facebook Mom Community‘, an old lady had forwarded a joke/tricky prank which says – ‘You are the One who duped her with x amount of money, when you click on the link mentioned in the post.’
All hell went loose on the poor soul, a simple pun, a little humble age old prank had created a huge furore for the lady and she spent rest of her day justifying everyone – ‘it’s just a prank, I am sorry if you are offended.‘ I mean seriously? Are we so cold-blooded today that cannot differentiate between a joke or an insult? Probaby this platonic shit is another perk of being social media addict 24/7 that it has killed the humanly warmth from our real hearts.
Next comes judgements, prejudices, and long social media rants – so unlike earlier, today we need disclaimers after every line. People are called for their choices, decisions, opinions and what not. I chose my life the way I like it, not the way society wants or directs me to.
Empathy, compassion, sensibility, and kindness, are vital threads of our social structure. We shuffle with one and the whole building comes crumbling down. Have you seen teenagers/youngsters these days, they lack most of these emotions. I am no one to judge them, but these are my observations as a ‘thoughtful parenting crusader’ and a mother of a tween.
Are we turning Anti-social?
Just see around yourself what is happening in our society? We pay huge sum to join laughter clubs for health benefits or taking therapies to gain control over feelings which aren’t even there. But, nothing helps better than the real-life human connections.
If you are a kid of 90s like me, do you recall ‘colony aunties’ poking their noses in everyone’s personal affair. They wanted to know each and every detail about your life, and its periphery. We found them too annoying that time, but today, I miss such connections.
When I look around, the horrific brutality and rage scares the hell out of me. These few snippets from the news headlines are enough to explain where we are standing as society –
- Teeager tries to poison parents over phone addiction.
- Another teenager kills mother and leaves a smiling emoticon drawn from her blood.
- Husband killing wife over an argument and chopping her body into many parts.
- Employers scalding and beating life out of their minor house-help.
- Sexual abuse by father and other family members.
Reading such incidents not only spoil your mood early in the morning, but also questions the sensitivity and compassion of society as a whole. Are we providing right life-lessons to our younger generation? We run from pillar to post to get our kids in the best of the schools, but what are we doing to make them better human beings?
Without generalizing, lets understand where are we going wrong? It’s easy to point out fingers on working parents, single child syndrome, or excessive social media addiction. Experts believe, this downfall could be an aftermath of ‘protective or liberal parenting’, but, I personally feel there is more to this.
We as a society have distanced ourselves from each other, social-threads and emotions which result in lack of connections. Also, excessive exposure of internet, social-media that we have lost the difference between reel or real.
Conclusion
As social beings, a superior species we are meant to make connections and live as a whole instead of bits-and-pieces. Social connections, emotions, happiness, and compassion are as important in life as other materialistic things. As forebearers, our children should take the baton of social-empathy and move forward.
Also, read a Short Fictional Story I have written for a writing challenge, here.
This post is a part of Blogchatter Half Marathon 2023
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13 Comments
What a choice of topic for your post. It is much needed topic t be discussed. Each and eery word you wrote make so much sense. If I try to remember when did this term “anti-social” came into our lives then, I think during covid. Sad part is post covid, the term left its marks into our lives. Young generation are the ones who got affected the most. Why just them, even adults also had phone and internet to stay in touch with their friends. Infact, I had seen the change in the was of communication as well. Sentences have gotten short, there are occasions when people go loss of words. They can type 10 messages, but saying 10 lines in person seems like a task.
I am also a mother to a teenager and I understand what you said. We can only look for occasions when we can meet friends and family.
Anti-social is the correct term to define us today. And yes, I agree that it was not the case a few years back. Smiling and laughing in a group of people should be justifiable to every person present. The so-called ‘Manners’ take the fun out of simple things in life.
I completely agree with what you said. especially since covid things have changed drastically and social connections become a rare part of lifestyle. sadly, this things affecting our kids and teen . I also missed 90s era and wishing that my kids also get a chance to live and enjoy that simple yet joyful moment in their life.
I know where you are coming from. The world is very sensitive and political correctness has taken the life out of the light moments we used to have because someone or the other gets offended. Political correctness is needed but we should have a line drawn for everything
First of all a round of applause for coming up with such a sensitive and important topic to discuss. I cannot disagree with you at any point and agree yes we turned anti social which hampered and affected our lives badly. Covid Turned lives upside down and worst victims are the young people. Kids are missing what we enjoyed in our time…. they should get a chance to live life better.
I agree nowadays we are becoming so heartless that we often forget that our words can seriously hurt someone. Thanks for writing on this
This is a much needed topic tobe discussed and kudos for choosing to write about it. These days people hardly have empathy when expressing and as you rightly said we are becoming antisocial
You definitely make a strong point there. There has been a paradigm shift in our social ethos over the last few decades. People are more isolated and insulated today, and that feeling of community bonding is disappearing fast. This is having its effect on social behaviour. Sandy N Vyjay
I think we are becoming anti-social nowadays more so because of mobile phones. But when it comes to sexual abuse in the family or being physically abusive to a spouse this has been happening since old times. Its just that now things come in news and we get to know.
It’s like the movie dialogue, “Duniya mein kya chal raha hai uski fikr hai par pados mein kya ho raha hai uski parwa nahi.” More than anti-social I think we’re becoming intolerant; of different ideas, opinions, or choices. Human interaction has reduced a lot and reliance on gadgets is slowly turning us into one, sadly.
A very thought-provoking account Dipika, like you the situation has baffled me too and when I read you I do realize yes we are getting really bad at human connections. We are not leaving a generous and accommodating world for our progeny.
I think people have generally stopped caring. Loved ones seem to be a burden for many. But it’s sad to see where the world is heading with such incidents in real life when reel life seems to be pretty exciting.
In recent years, there has been a growing concern about whether we are suddenly becoming more anti-social in an increasingly digital world. The rapid proliferation of smartphones and social media platforms has transformed the way we communicate and connect with others. While these digital tools offer convenience and connectivity, they have also raised questions about the quality of our interactions. Some argue that excessive screen time can lead to a decline in face-to-face social interactions, potentially eroding essential social skills. However, it’s crucial to strike a balance and harness technology to enhance rather than replace real-world connections, as meaningful social interactions remain vital for our mental and emotional well-being.