Common Sense

Thomas Paine first published his short, 48-page pamphlet "Common Sense" in 1776.  At that time is one of the most widely read and distributed pieces of literature throughout the American colonies.  From there, it helped fuel the fires of revolution, swaying readers to buy into the argument that those colonies should be free and independent from British rule, portraying a vivid picture of an American identity.

1852 witnessed the publication of Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe.  A best-selling abolitionist novel, the book eventually led President Abraham Lincoln to reference Stowe as "the little woman who wrote the book that started this great war" - the American Civil War.

In our present day, the fires of revolution are still stoked by the spread of the written word.  Egyptian revolutionaries successfully disposed of long-time president Hosni Mubarak in 2011, aided by significant use of social networking sites such as Twitter to coordinate efforts and disseminate information.

We currently live in a globally-interdependent society featuring the most available information, the fastest modes of communication, and the highest level of education in the history of the world.  The world population, thought by some to represent a higher number of living people than the total that have died throughout human history.  At 8 billion, there are more people living on Earth than ever before, and of these 8 billion, more people live in urban areas than ever before as well (up to roughly 50%).  All these modes of communication - cell phones, the internet, and person-to-person - have been used today to put more people in touch with others around the globe that it's difficult to imagine functioning without instant access.  We are able to access - at our fingertips - to have a conversation with someone on the opposite side of the PLANET.

I labelled this post "Common Sense" not only in reference to Thomas Paine's opus, but also because I find it frightening how people have grown to use this information and communication technology in such erroneous ways.  On a social networking site, I was scrolling through posts and came across one from a friend lamenting that a new couch wouldn't fit through their front door.  All I could think about was in what way was informing your hundreds of connections of this piece of trivia relevant or useful?  Take a moment to scroll through your social network of choice and count the number of trivial posts and updates.  I see these and wonder why.

In a world of unprecedented growth, revolution, change, and advances, how much are we taking for granted?  We've corrupted it into an incessant buzz of random thoughts in the heat of moment, void of value or thought, consumed, indeed, asked for on a minute to minute, hour to hour, day to day basis.  Snooki has almost 5 million followers on Twitter but I'm the one people gawk at when they learn I don't have cable or even a smart phone.  When did so much interaction become just noise?