I'll see that curmudgeon-ness and raise you one: I find that humans are generally like cats: they pay attention until the string stops moving and then wait for movement somewhere else. What I am finding lately is that all the people around me cannot simply do something like watch TV or eat a meal, they must combine both with twiddling on either a smartphone or a tablet. So when something like a TV show or movie is watched, all the subtly, significant portions of the video and absolutely all the typed messages (that set the stage for whatever is going on) are missed entirely. I used to stop the video stream and point this out but found that this annoyed the people who were 'watching' because "I know what is going on". But in fact, he / she has NO IDEA AT ALL what is going on and further, they are perfectly happy with that.
Conversations are going the same way- someone interrupts a thought and that is the end of that. Put simply, it seems to me that people simply vomit out words that may or may not form a sentence but at any rate, it makes little sense, is of no value and is usually incorrect.
Now here is the really scary thing: these people put down their tablets / smart phones just long enough to do some real damage..... like voting. And this tread is not new because....
"The multitude of fools is a protection to the wise. "
-Marcus T. Cicero
Brian
Warning: Curmudgeon alert:
Welcome to the fragmentation of normal life brought to you by modern technology.
The modern theme of 'Express Yourself' is an empty shell to me.
Many don't let the fact that they don't have something worth saying, keep them from saying it anyway.
I guess we all have the right to do it, but there is far too much noise as a result.
As a society, we are so busy being the most overly 'expressed' and overly 'communicated' people ever, we miss out on what's meaningful.