iPods Will Kill Your Brain

I must be very careful in critizing anything that Andrew Sullivan writes without knee-jerking with such speed that my shoes are left on the ground. However, Ian Wood over at Astonished Head wrote a great critique on the latest Sullivan rant against a socialogical trend of people retreating inward into their iPods as they stroll around New York City.

I must start with a disclaimer: I am one of these socially inward people, when I am commuting or getting somewhere on public transportation, that you see walking down the street with earphones in my ear--I have been this way ever since I got my first walkman. So take my responses and disagreement of Sullivan's claims with a grain of salt.

As I read Sullivan's article, I couldn't help but shake that feeling I used to get sitting in church listening to the Preacher's latest sermon; there were way too many generalities spoken about to deliver a well reasoned conclusion from the perspective of one person. The drift to hyperbole based on making assumptions on such a large sample size are unavoidable. Sullivan says:

I was visiting New York last week and noticed something I’d never thought I’d say about the city. Yes, nightlife is pretty much dead (and I’m in no way the first to notice that). But daylife — that insane mishmash of yells, chatter, clatter, hustle and chutzpah that makes New York the urban equivalent of methamphetamine — was also a little different. It was quieter.

Ah, the logical fallicy of appealing to an annonymous authority. I haven't been to New York recently enough to form any kind of judgement as to whether this is true or not, so I won't comment. It just hard for Sullivan to set-up a credible argument with such a lame, broad-brushed stroke.

But, for the sake of argument, let's say Sullivan is right and there are, due to the iPod, substantial numbers of people walking down the streets of our cities, interacting less as they head to work (or wherever they are going). I'd take that as a good thing. Often times when I am crammed on the MUNI like a sardine with a bunch of San Franciscians that only shower on rainy days, one needs a little solace to keep from knocking someone out--especially when I'm running late and the bus is held up by some homeless guy who is trying to negotiate his fare with the bus driver for 10 cents and a box of half eaten M&Ms. We should welcome the iPod as an anestitizer.

Anyway, here is Sullivan's other generalized pot shot:

It wouldn’t be so worrying if it weren’t part of something even bigger. Americans are beginning to narrow their lives.

You get your news from your favourite blogs, the ones that won’t challenge your view of the world. You tune into a satellite radio service that also aims directly at a small market — for new age fanatics, liberal talk or Christian rock. Television is all cable. Culture is all subculture. Your cell phones can receive e-mail feeds of your favourite blogger’s latest thoughts — seconds after he has posted them — get sports scores for your team or stock quotes of your portfolio.

Read the rest of Ian's post for a perfect example of how one uses the avenues of a subculture, in his case a message board, to find a community of people with similar interests who challenged his view and ultimately improved his understanding his problem. (Speculation alert) I think Sullivan is projecting his fear that his pledge drive will be substantially less successful this year. He will no doubt take on the martyr's role of "no one wants to listen to bloggers that challenge your view of the world." Naturally it would have nothing to do with the fact that he can't even make an argument that challenges those that agree with him.

But on a more substantive level, I am unconvinced by Sullivan's argument where he observes, using the sample size of one city, that iPod use is pointing towards America's inward drift. The natural conclusion of that drift is to assume that eventually we'll all be reduced to roaming around in our digital and virtual tribes, striking out at those that cross our boundries. If that is the case, then I lement the day where I run into the "La Tribe Ricky Martin."

Anyway, enough of that. My narrow life and I are going to drink with a bunch of people that I call my friends. I wonder if our narrowing views will converge long enough to form a reasonable conversation.

...as long as "Sweetness" brings those long legs of her's, we should have plenty to talk about.