When People Tune Out

There is a certain phenomenon I have witnessed in the US over the years with increasing intensity over time, and this is that of people tuning out and not listening to anything that does not reflect what they already believe. Another aspect of this trend is when people want to try and shut others up by vehemently arguing with them and hurling insults at the person with a differing opinion.

I cannot attest to whether or not this same phenomenon is happening anywhere else around the world, but from my own experience being born and raised in the United States, I can say that this is definitely something that happens in the US. I have talked to people from different countries, and so far, in my personal opinion, most people outside of the US are much easier to talk to about any of those hot button issues that really set people off in the US. Religion and politics have always been heated and divisive topics, but never quite to the degree it has over the last ten years. I have found that all the people I have talked to around the world are willing to listen to your point of view and then ask some qualifying questions. It's almost like others around the world really want to know what you believe and why. However, there is a bit of arrogance if not narcissism when it comes to Americans' beliefs. There is almost this notion that I know that I am one hundred percent right and I don't want to hear anything you have to say unless you're confirming what I already believe.

Also in the last several years I have also witnessed something else that I believe is related. Usually in the past, people are always willing to have a discussion with someone who shares similar or same beliefs. However, in the last few years I have found it increasingly difficult to even have conversations with people who share the same beliefs as I do. I have shared what I thought was interesting insight to other people's topics that is in alignment with what they believe and were talking about, only to be met with silence time after time after time. There is this growing trend in the United States where people just do not want to talk or have discussions with anyone anymore unless it is someone they know and are very comfortable with.

I wish that it weren't like this, but this isn't a trend that is going away anytime soon. I do believe it is a cycle of moods and attitudes taking place in my country. Perhaps the cycle will come back around and people will return to civility and be able to have discussions again, but there is a possibility that we won't either. Maybe what we are seeing is what the French sociologist Emile Durkheim called anomie, where society is collapsing all around us, which in turn is brought about by a collapsing government that is wholly negligent if not abusive to the majority of its own citizens. I really don't know anymore. What I do know is that I truly miss having good long conversations with other people, even if we don't agree. I miss all the human connections I used to have with others over the years.