darrylohrt’s stuff

His essay about how social media is destroying culture:

It's always annoying to hear the disruptive jingles of a ringtone break the silence in a classroom while taking a test. That's just one of the many hardships that seems to come with new aged devices such as cellphones. Sometimes I wonder how hard it would be to live without a phone or a computer where it would be impossible to communicate through long, or even short distances. Something as simple as going out to the movies or trying to get a hold of a friend would pose extreme inconvenience. But it is not often that we look at technology and communication and realize the negative consequences that come with it. A well-rounded perspective is always the best if we wish to perpetuate advancements forward.

I started pondering the hardships that advanced communication creates when I went on a study abroad program over the summer. I traveled to Chiang Mai, Thailand. I was intrigued by Chiang Mai, as I wanted to get away from the slobby, unhealthy, and rude stereotypical American culture that I've tolerated for so long. I thought that attaining a sense of contrast to my home would be simple while literally being on the other side of the world. But as I took my first step out of the airport into the polluted air that Chiang Mai has, I was extremely disappointed to feel the displeasure of my eyes burning as I layed them upon one of the most repugnant Burger King billboards I've ever seen. The culture I strived to escape was already infecting its way across the world, and the ethnicity I wished to explore was coming to a slow and torturous death as major corporations sprouted from the ground everywhere. Although I was still thrilled with exhilaration to be in Thailand, I was overwhelmed with discontentment of my failed evasion.

After returning home from the journey, I was enraged to see television commercials produced by Burger King claiming that they gave people Whoppers in Chiang Mai who have never heard of the burger before. What a nasty lie that was. I had an epiphany when I viewed this commercial: Although communication allows us to perform a multitude of tasks such as keeping in touch with friends and family in America from Thailand via email, Skype, AIM, and other applications, it also takes away a quality that makes the human race so unique. Within the years to come, there will be no diversity left because communication will become a catalyst to destroy culture. People in America will eventually connect to others in Thailand, and exchange fashion, recipes, names, and traditions; diminishing whatever diversity is left. Soon enough, Thailand will become homogenized to American culture and vice versa as major fast food agencies spread amuck, killing Thai cuisine and leaving only the greasy foods that have plagued America into obesity. One of the astonishing things about individuality and the human race is our unique ethnicity across the globe. Being a witness to the death of diversity is involuntary, but being capable of observing it gives me a greater apreciation of culture than ever before. Within my future, I will still be looking forward to new progressions in transportation, medicine, engineering, space, and communication. But thanks to my trip to Thailand, I'll be capable of perceiving the detrimental effects that these new innovations will have.