If this takes on the appearance of a rant, I apologize. I have some strong feelings about this topic.
I was talking to someone the other day who commented that I seem to be in a good mood much more often than bad. I told them that I don’t have a reason to be unhappy when I have so much good in my life.
This seems to be a difficult thing for many geeks to do. I’m not really sure if it’s the belief that it’s cool to be grumpy or if it’s just a lack of perspective brought on by being blessed with so much for so long. Regardless, we tend to dwell on the negative and often thrive on contention.
What’s perhaps even more disturbing is that instead of making an attempt to fix the problems we see, more often than not, we grouse about them and then do nothing beyond adding fuel to the discontent of those around us. The true irony of this situation is that we as geeks have an innate ability and drive to fix things. We thrive on fixing things that are truly challenging. Why then do we so often retreat from societal problems?
To be fair, I don’t see this as just geeks. As a society we are moving aggressively away from being a part of the community that we live in. Each person goes from their home to their car to work and back making as few social interactions as possible. We spend too much time tending our devices and not enough time taking care of what matters most. How do we expect any of the societal ills that we perceive to be remedied if we’re only willing to make sure that we’re not contributing to them? When will we decide that it *is* worth our time to help others?
So here’s my hope. If you’ve read this far, maybe you’re willing to do something besides flame me in the comments.
Sign up for something to improve the life of someone around you. The only stipulation that I would make is that you do something you’ve never done before and that you get no recognition of any kind.
If you feel brave, leave me a comment about what you’re doing/have done/will be doing.
p.s. No. I’m not going to blow my own horn. Just suffice to say that I feel pretty comfortable about what I’m doing and have done in the past to call on folks to be more active in the community.
I got yer comments here...