Kimberly Brooks: Phase Change - Yahoo! News: "Before I was married and when I was dating, I remember that when I left the house, there was this sense of anticipation..maybe I would meet the man of my dreams today on the train to work or literature class? It was all very random.
Now the man on the train is on the cell phone or blackberry. I hear they’re also thinking of allowing cell phone coverage on airplanes. That is one place, even if people have access to the internet, that no one can reach you by cell at least. But to be accessible then too would be too much. Not to mention having to listen to everyone else’s conversation! The Internet has made everyone connected to everybody all the time. I hear and read that, for the most part, teenagers and young adults don’t “go steady” anymore. Now they’re all just friends. And some of those friends get “benefits” or “hook up” -- no strings attached. Sure the dating scene has seen many changes (from the conservative 50s to the sixties, seventies etc.) and, it could be just the cycle of how people date changes. But what if it’s not? This extends beyond the realm of dating, as sure as you’re reading my thoughts right now.
I know that this isn’t a new idea. Lord knows my far out dad told us this kind of stuff during bed time stories. But what if our species is at the cusp of a phase change? When water turns to steam it stays in the form of water from 1 to 100 degrees and then, in one instant…it turns to steam. Steady transitions are not what happens in nature. It’s distinctly a phase change. And I think it’s happening to us. I wonder what will happen to this tiny planet where virtual nerves start connecting that have never connected before, and we become this pulsating globe of instantaneous thought?"
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