Narcissism

I apologize. I have been lax in my promise to ramble and wax poetic about abnormal and irrelevant things. But no more.

I have returned. You probably don't care - which would be a sign that you are a healthy, balanced person who has better things to do than care about how much a person blogs. And if you care immensely - well, you should probably be off seeking professional help rather than reading this. But if you care slightly - well, you've come (back) to the right place.

For all of you people who find yourselves one step above complete apathy, I'm here for you. For all of you who are but a thoroughly scratched butt away from being completely unproductive - I write for people like you. Because let's be honest. Truly productive people don't blog - nor do they waste time reading blogs.

It's the rest of us, the other 92% of humanity who blog and read blogs. Because we enjoy mild productivity like a good cup of coffee - nothing like a few things done, and more that we aren't doing to make time-wasting and vain pontificating so enjoyable.

Where am I going with all of this?

Facebook and Twitter.

We've reached a new low in the evolution of people and society. Our need for immediate self-gratification has caused us to feel the need to post a status on facebook that declares that we are not actually doing anything. So now, people not only need to know when we are doing something, they need to know when we are not doing it as well.

Hell, there's even a device that will post your heart rate to Twitter for you. (Though for fast food and caffeine junkies - I'm only guilty of one - that might actually save a few lives.) That could actually prove cool. Especially if it added words. Imagine logging into Twitter to check your heart rate and seeing "Your heart rate is: 112 bpm. For God's sake fatty, lay off the sodium." Aside from the humor value, this is pathetic. Aside from the fact that the world could know of your death or heart attack within seconds - who cares? Wouldn't a heart rate be better sent to a hospital or dispatch than a website?

But seriously . . . how often do we need to be validated by other people? Every 15 minutes? Every hour? Every few hours? Every day?

Are we really that alone? Are we really this needy? Can we even survive if we are this desperately self-centered?

Or does society itself never evolve, but merely devolve and cycle in a vicious progression of infinite regression, broken occasionally by plateaus viewed historically as peaks, yet really merely isolated instances of slowed decline?

What are we?

Don't worry. I'm not actually expecting answers. Heck, I'm not even expecting to remember the questions. That's what conversation and real life and real people are for. This is a blog. I just say it here to avoid actually asking it, and to make myself feel deep and important.

"And if the council decides to bear its bottoms and sit on the dung heap? Will you do that as well?" ~ Stephen Lawhead

Until I return, watch out for Irishmen with sporks.