I thought that "The Numbing of the American Mind" was a really interesting article. I was most interested by the comments made about 9/11, and how it is strange that we have recovered so soon. When I first read that, I ultimately disagreed with him. I didn't really think we had gotten over 9/11 as fast as he had made us think. More than 5 years later, I still see commercials about it, pictures of it, conversation about it, and tons of other stuff to prove that we have not moved past that day. I did realize the numbness he was talking about though. A couple weeks ago, I heard about another suicide bombing in Iraq, and I didn't realize until reading this article how little I was affected by it. I bet it would be a pretty big story if it had happened 15 or 20 years ago, and everyone would have thought it was a much bigger deal than I did. I never realized how desensitized we have become, not because we don't care, but because we are so exposed to these kinds of things every day.
Everything that was talked about in this article is very strange to take in. You don't realize how unaffected we are by things that should have major impacts until someone finally realizes it, and comments on it. Although this article seems a little extreme in saying that the American mind is "numbing", it brings up very interesting points about today's society, and how we all live. But I guess we can't really do anything to stop it, and it is just the product of an ever changing lifestyle.
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Alright, so last night I had an excellent comment for your post, but google was being uncooperative and wouldn't let me post, blah blah. Now I have to regather my thoughts, which I have completely forgot.
Anyways, I completely understand that you feel we haven't gotten over 9/11 as fast as he proposes. Although we are repeatedly reminded of that tragic day, I think that emotionally we have moved on. We, as Americans, are more or less "desensitized," as you have agreed with, but I'm not sure thats necessarily a bad thing. We live in a fast-paced world, and we need to move on quickly. I'm not saying we should feel nothing for such tradgedies, but we cannot dwell in the past.
Nice post. I think we're desensitized to some degree, and I wonder if "moving on" is a good thing, but I also realize it's inevitable. I think part of what the article is saying is that we need to realize we're moving on when we move on, that we need to be conscious of what we're doing when we do it, or else we're losing touch with some aspect of reality. Or something like that.
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