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The social issue I am addressing:
There is a lack of communication between people who share the same physical space. We share the sights of the area, the sounds, the smells and the general atmosphere, but rarely do we share our thoughts. The people around us may have interesting anecdotes, questions or views they wish to share with those around them, but they do not because it would involve 'breaking the ice'. Often, when the people sharing the same public space experience an event which breaks the monotony of the situation it will trigger them to start talking about the event. Sometimes the event is traumatic, forcing people to make new bonds quickly in order to reassure themselves and each other, but this need not always be the case. Regardless of the intensity, these events unite the people and give them common ground. This forms the basis for the start of a conversation, which could lead nowhere or anywhere. Irrelevant of where the conversation leads the people involved will have undoubtedly affected each others lives, to varying degrees, but hopefully for the better.
Why this issue is important:
Back to the top The ability to talk confidently to strangers is important, especially in the corporate world. Presentations and idea pitches are often to strangers and it would not be beneficial to seize up when they occur. This is why those who want to be successful, and regarded as instantly amiable should use every opportunity they can to talk to people they do not know. The stranger they talk to the more at ease they feel talking to stranger and the easier it becomes. This positive feedback loop improves a persons conversation skills, confidence and makes society a more friendly place to be.
Why this issue exists:
Back to the top People travel further away from home: The human race has been developing and expanding for quite some time now. But only in the last half century or so, has this issue become increasingly apparent as we continue to decentralise our activities. The norm used to be that neighborhoods were very tightly knit, people lived and worked in the immediate area around their home, and knew those in the vicinity by name and to talk to. However it is now more normal than ever to spend an hour or more commuting to work, meaning most of our waking, working hours are spend miles away from the home. A report by Cambridge Econometrics, commissioned by Transport for London (among other organisations) confirms this slow shift towards commuting when it says: The National Travel Survey of Great Britain (NTS) has measured passenger travel patterns on a consistent basis for 20 years. ... over this period the average length of journey to work trips has increased by 2.2% per annum, whereas the average travel time has increased more slowly by 1% per annum”1 As well as their parents traveling further to work, children might attend schools which are further away form the family home, possibly even board there. Shopping also involves people driving further than they used to to supermarkets and stocking up for a week or more because the high street butchers, bakers and fishmongers which could once be found in every town are now all but extinct. The house of many individuals is turning into something more akin to a launch and refueling pad than the focal point . This is not to say that people do not care as much about where they live, and the quote above confirms that 'individual taste' is an important and contributing factor to the lengthening of journey distances. As public transport improves and personal transport becomes more abundant people are no longer tied down by the location of their place of residence. The same report on commuter flows has this to say about the effects improved infrastructure is having on the distance people are prepared to commute. Because of this people are viewing their homes as a place where they live, a place to start and end their day, often missing out on the sense of community that once existed. People are isolating themselves: Unfortunately for me, those who chose to commute to work via car, and who do not carpool, are going to be more difficult to engage with those around them. One might think that more people commuting on trains would use the opportunity to get to know their fellow travelers. However, not only have we progressed in the distances we comfortably travel, but we have also improved on our methods of distraction and isolationism to make the journeys more bearable. Mobile phones and even more passive devices such as portable music players are giving commuters their own world in which to live. Both these items send out a negative signal to anybody wishing to engage the user in conversation, unless they're asking them to turn down the volume. Between 1998 and 2001 the percentage of British people who owned a mobile phone increased from 27% to 73%2, so clearly the problem of us having to hear somebody else's conversation on the train is only going to become more of an issue, increasing the negative feelings with those around us. IDEO have designed a series of five “Social mobiles”3 to provoke discussion on the social impact of mobile phones. One particularly extreme model issues an electric shock to the users of the phone is they talk to loudly.
Mini-evaluation:
Back to the top I'm not arguing that we should regress to a time before supermarkets, mobile phones and commuting, but i am saying it's a shame that with these changes in peoples habits we are isolating ourselves therefore losing the ability to talk to those around us. Perhaps we are isolating ourselves out of choice, but hopefully i can create an artifact which will encourage people to reconsider.
1 Cambridge Econometrics, WSP Group, London School of Economics, 2005
“Commuter Flows in London and the Wider South East 2001 to 2016/21” Page 29 Retrieved 5th November 2005 http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/ CF6D641E-47BC-415E-87A8-FAE33669FDF5/0/ BC_RS_Commuter_London_Corporation_Final_Rep_27July05v2.pdf 2 Kate Fox, n.d. “Love e, Love e not….” Retrieved 5th November 2005 http://www.sirc.org/articles/love_e_love_e_not.shtml 3 IDEO, 2003 “Social Mobiles” Retrieved 5th November 2005 http://www.ideo.com/portfolio/re.asp?x=50172 |
