A-Fuk/Fuktauh: a sucker or a fool (lit. a blessed man).
Sou Dung Bo (A.D. 1036-1101), a famous poet during the Sung dynasty, created wonderful stanzas but experienced multiple demotions and exiles. He wrote an illuminating poem three days after his son's birth:
"All people wish that their sons will grow up be extremely clever,
But just because I'm clever I've been suffering all my life.
I want only a stupid and foolish son,
And I hope he will become a court minister in stability."
"Where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise." - Thomas Gray, "Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College"
The amazing My Name is Not Bob platform challenge from Robert Lee Brewer exposed me to a variety of social media. The month-long task strove to build a writer's platform. I'm very grateful for the experience and a new community of fellow writers.
Maybe there are blessings to foolishness, to acting like a fuktauh, though. In the age of fast-flowing information, sometimes I want to press the pause button. I wonder if Jennifer Egan's book, A Visit from the Goon Squad, predicts the future with accuracy. Are we heading toward a time when people sit next to each other texting their conversations? Where "pointers" (toddler consumers who purchase merchandise with a flick of their fingers) can exist?
I enjoy concentrated, in-person communication. After all, prolonged eye contact connects us to one another and promotes romantic attraction. The importance of touch appears at an early age, too, according to Harlow's famous attachment study.
Let us remember to take the time to slow down once in a while and interact face-to-face instead of screen-to-screen.
Sou Dung Bo (A.D. 1036-1101), a famous poet during the Sung dynasty, created wonderful stanzas but experienced multiple demotions and exiles. He wrote an illuminating poem three days after his son's birth:
"All people wish that their sons will grow up be extremely clever,
But just because I'm clever I've been suffering all my life.
I want only a stupid and foolish son,
And I hope he will become a court minister in stability."
"Where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise." - Thomas Gray, "Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College"
The amazing My Name is Not Bob platform challenge from Robert Lee Brewer exposed me to a variety of social media. The month-long task strove to build a writer's platform. I'm very grateful for the experience and a new community of fellow writers.
Maybe there are blessings to foolishness, to acting like a fuktauh, though. In the age of fast-flowing information, sometimes I want to press the pause button. I wonder if Jennifer Egan's book, A Visit from the Goon Squad, predicts the future with accuracy. Are we heading toward a time when people sit next to each other texting their conversations? Where "pointers" (toddler consumers who purchase merchandise with a flick of their fingers) can exist?
I enjoy concentrated, in-person communication. After all, prolonged eye contact connects us to one another and promotes romantic attraction. The importance of touch appears at an early age, too, according to Harlow's famous attachment study.
Let us remember to take the time to slow down once in a while and interact face-to-face instead of screen-to-screen.
Comments (6)
More face-to-face interactions is a good idea. It's kind of upsetting sometimes how I let technology absorb all of our time. But at the same time, I sometimes panic because I'm not up-to-date on the latest technology or the latest news item. It's a kind of like being a hamster in a closed-off hamster ball.
However, I'm glad I met you through the platform challenge and that we got to meet through our screens. I nominated your blog to the Liebster Blog award, you can see it here: http://sopphey.onimpression.com/2012/05/crazy-dreams-nominations.html
The Liebster Blog Award is kind of like a big Internet hug one blogger gives to another because they're so cool. So yeah, I think you're cool and can't wait to see where you go with your blog and your writing.
♥ Sopphey
Sopphey,
I'm glad to have met you because of the MNINB challenge. Not quite face-to-face but still exciting. Thank you so much for the nomination, too!
Jennifer,
Sopphey beat me to it, but I added you on my Liebster Award list, too. Thanks for the great posts! Keep up the awesome work!
Thanks so much, Kasie! Two nominations are making me gush.
I'm another one who found you through the MNINB challenge, and I've got some serious reservations about "my on-line presence" for the very reason you mention here. Is social media crowding out person to person interaction? After chatting on Twitter and maybe commenting on some blogs, I feel like I've "connected" with people - and I'm so happy to have found so many people through the challenge - but on the other hand there's a energy I only get from having really gone out in the real world with face-to-face friends. it's easier to do it over the computer though, and I think your blog post is a good reminder to slow down and carve out time for that face-to-face interaction.
Thanks for commenting and understanding where I'm coming from.