IS THE iPod A "COCOON OF SOLIPSISM"?
posted by:Ian Kerr // 07:57 AM // June 10, 2005 // TechLife
one common conception of "privacy" is as a kind of "space" that enables intellectual consumption/exploration/achievement by allowing people to be "more or less inaccessible to others, either on the spatial, psychological or informational plane."
to the extent that privacy in this sense is of significant instrumental value, it was interesting to read an item in my inbox this morning from the register detailing a principal's decision to ban iPods in her school because their use "encourages kids to be selfish and lonely." according to the principal of the International Grammar School, "iPod-toting children were isolating themselves into a cocoon of solipsism."
ever since nicholas negroponte coined the concept of the "daily me" (referring to people's growing desire for only that information & news that pertained to them individually), much attention has been paid to network technologies and their ability to isolate rather than connect people.
after years of thinking about this, i still have no firm point of view on this subject -- it is interesting to note that the article on the iPod referred also to the Blog as a technology used by "ego-centric 'social minimizers'" -- but i do think it is worth raising the question whether these technologies are tools of that sort, or whether their use is better understood as a symptom of deeper social ills.
a penetrating example of the latter view is found in an image allan lightman portrays, in an angst ridden rail against the new technological age, in his book diagnosis. in the booming, buzzing confusion of technosociety, his characters would put on their headsets and blare music as the last resort means of acheiving intellectual solitude.
so ... where is the problem? and what is the solution?
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Comments
I wonder: would the principal also be inclined to ban works of fiction not included in the curriculum? After all, just imagine all those students bringing their Harry Potter to school, so as to retreat to their own little solipsistic fantasy worlds during recess ...
My hunch is that something along the lines of what Lightman is saying is right. Students are too connected, thanks to the ubiquity of certain kinds of technology. They're just using other kinds of technology for some respite.
Posted by: David Matheson at June 10, 2005 10:03 AM
the iPod is an interesting device in that it both "connects to" and "disconnects from" the network.
i have a new colleague who recently asked me to exchange "playlists" with him. i learned more about him through that exchange than i know about many of colleagues with whom i have been acquainted for several years.
Posted by: ian at June 10, 2005 10:44 AM
Ian and Dave,
See an earlier post of mine (http://www.anonequity.org/weblog/archives/000171.php) discussing a recent study on the psycho social aspects of playlists...including it's intersection with personal privacy conceptions of those who were studied.
Posted by: Marty at June 10, 2005 11:02 AM
And books. Don't forget books. Reading isolates you from the Greater Social Good and therefore all novels should be turned into movies that can be enjoyed socially. C'mon people. Everyone needs a little solipsism in their life. It's those moments that let you reflect on your social interactions and whether or not they were righteous and should be repeated or changed. Also, anyone ever notice that music SOUNDS BETTER when your alone?
Posted by: Jeremy Armer at June 11, 2005 11:43 AM
