Today we examine the concept “obsolete.” Our primary aid in this discussion is Webster’s New Twentieth Century Dictionary, Unabridged Second Edition © 1979.
Obsolete: A printed dictionary from 1979 is or isn’t so?
Wow, that’s a huge dictionary!
And very modern, from the perspective of 1974.
I received this tome first semester of my sophomore college year, a 19th birthday gift from my soon-to-be in laws. At that time, my parents, too, were optimistic that marriage would not derail my education. By the end of sophomore year that unfortunate event came to pass. I’m thankful that it was temporary, and that the goal of earning a bachelor’s degree had not become obsolete.
Obsolete: Look it up in the dictionary. . .
Maybe it should have become obsolete, since you ended up with a degree in business administration.
Lily, to this day I share your disappointment that I didn’t follow my original plan and graduate with a degree in theater- -a story for another time. But allow me to observe that my interest in theater never became obsolete, in the sense that I never discarded it and, by the time I was in my 30s, acting and directing had strongly returned to my life in use and in practice.
The word obsolete has been on my mind recently in terms of people, rather than pursuits. Are we complicit in making ourselves obsolete by bargaining away what makes us human for the purposes of convenience?
Huh?
Let’s break that down, 9.
First, how humans have come to increasingly value convenience.
Obsolete: Will convenience ever become so?
In the internet age we have developed the habit of buying goods and receiving services online. This tendency was greatly accelerated by the COVID epidemic when people were housebound. Several brick and mortar stores switched to curbside pickup only, and in-person services like haircuts were temporarily suspended. Though we’re no longer limited by social distancing, we buy online more heavily than ever. This practice, once a a short-term necessity, caused many of us to embrace the convenience of speedy at-home delivery as a lifestyle.
Is that a bad thing?
Yes and no, 9. For people who truly can’t get out of their homes, for example because of physical limitations, it’s probably a godsend. But for many I believe it also entails a kind of laziness, and/or the desire to cut out the inconvenience and extra time required to deal face-to-face with other humans, leaving more time to- -what, exactly? Doom scroll? Binge watch?
Which brings me to dehumanized:
Obsolete: If humans dehumanize will the become so?
Human society, at least in nations that have good internet access, is facing a crisis. After millennia of working cooperatively and predominantly behaving as a gregarious species, we are, very suddenly, seeing much less of each other face-to-face. Because of this, social and interactive skills are rapidly eroding. People are losing the ability, patience, maybe even the desire, to communicate in person. Visual and vocal cues, the nuances of communication, do not exist in texts and emails, and they don’t play as well in video calls and gatherings. We are actively contributing to disembodying our interactions with each other, lending credence to the idea that, whether we intend to or not, human bodies are becoming obsolete.
That’s a blood-chilling concept.
Yes, Lily, it is. And the truly frightening part is that humans (consciously or not) by altering our behavior for purposes of convenience are complicit in this shift.
I believe we can turn back the clock. It will require widespread effort and much individual determination. Simply put, make a conscious effort to visit your town’s brick and mortar stores before you shop online. One benefit- -if you find what you are looking for you can purchase it and use it immediately (no pesky “later today” delivery). Also, you can awaken and strengthen your communication skills through reading the nuances of physical and verbal clues from other humans, in-person and in real time. Bonus: buying local supports local jobs.
Because if we don’t exercise the characteristics that make us human- -kindness, patience, listening, empathy, and a raft of other good things- -our species will lose them.
If this happens, why shouldn’t humans become obsolete?
