No humanity, just no.

I’ve been glued to the news coverage of the Sydney hostage situation this morning. It’s human nature to be fascinated by such things, to rubber neck. We are told as children not to look at traffic accidents, but we can’t help it. Looking isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as long as we don’t hinder aid or gratuitously gawp. We are a breed obsessed with story, we tell ourselves tales to aid understanding, to reassure, to entertain, to grown. When we see a story unfolding in front of us, of course we are curious about the outcome.

People are watching the news channels, following the twitter hashtag and lingering in person, waiting for the conclusion of the Sydney siege story. Most people are willing the outcome to be a positive one for the people involved.

Most people, some people however seem to have forgotten their humanity. It’s not often I despair of the human race, but some of the team are letting us down today. I’m not sure what they are thinking. Maybe they meant to pick their common, human decency up as they were leaving the house, but accidently left it on the kitchen table or a hook by the door? Who in their right mind would take a selfie at the scene of a hostage crisis?

Taking a picture, that’s one thing. Our passion for sharing stories means that we want to share what we see unfolding. We want to help others understand. Something that is particularly easy in our society of smartphone and instant communication. Taking a picture that says look at me, I am here, that is something else entirely.

What does taking selfies at an event of human suffering, say about our collective narcissism? What are we becoming? I have very few problems with our levels of modern day communication and the new trends that are born of them. I know there is a great deal of mixed feeling about the advent of the selfie, but there has been negativity about many things through the ages which has turned out to be redundant. These things usually pan out; we muddle our way through to find a balanced status quo. The things I have seen today however make me very uneasy.

I can usually look at a situation and see the reasons why people act the way they do. Whether I agree with them or not, I am reasonable good at seeing the motivation of others. What I have seen today however, baffles and saddens me. I just can’t fathom what they are thinking; I suspect perhaps they are not thinking at all. What has led us to a point, where there are those among us, who can so callously observe our collective story unfolding, seemingly without thought or emotion? They must be viewing it totally passively, how else would they be able to take such pictures without seeing the creepiness of their actions?

The worst part is that they seem like perfectly ordinary human beings, probably with families and regular jobs and concerns. Is it because we have to think so little these days that we are beginning to forget how? We don’t think about much, we switch ourselves off. We don’t want to think about what we eat, what we do, how things are made. So many of us live in a world where simplicity is key, where we don’t have to or want to think about it. Have we become passive observes of our own existence? If we have where will it lead us and how are we going to stop ourselves slipping into the abyss?  Maybe that is something we should start thinking about.

Guilty As Charged

Oscar Pistorius was sentenced today for the ‘culpable homicide’ of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. There will undoubtedly be a huge amount of debate about the details of his sentence and whether or not justice has been served. I don’t think there is a right answer in this situation. No one apart from Reeva and Oscar really know what happened that night. Reeva will never be able to share her side. I would be willing to wager that Oscar probably couldn’t accurately tell the true story, especially after the media circus of a trial, as well as everything that comes with knowing you took a life.

Debate about the whole picture however is not wasted, even if there is no black and white answer to be uncovered. A woman has had her life cut short at the hands of another. If there wasn’t debate, we would all be failing her. Debate about what should and shouldn’t be allowed in terms of personal protection, the debate about what guilt and innocence look like under these complex circumstances, the debate about what we can change moving forward.

What I hear around me however makes me… I’m not even sure what the right word is……depressed maybe. I hear people with OPINIONS, not opinions, or ideas, or thoughts, but OPINIONS. They lead these OPINIONS out and parade them in front of their audience for many reasons, but from my experience rarely because a woman has needlessly lost her life.

Today I listen to two women talking, one of whom was very vocal on her OPINIONS about Oscars guilt, and the lack of any real punishment. She regaled her companion with her OPINIONS and those of her husband. All I could hear though was “listen to me, I can talk about things that matter”, “listen to how I hold different views to my husband, I am an independent entity, you see that. Don’t you?” I listened as her and her friend laid out their OPINIONS over coffee the other to approve of. Their conversation had nothing to do with Reeva Steenkamp or Oscar Pistorius and everything to do with themselves and their lives.

Now I don’t believe that all, or indeed any, debate, conversation or discussion we have in the course of human interaction and entirely get away from our desire to connect with one another, from our need to present ourselves. What I am left wondering is when did these aspects become the sole focus of our interactions? When and why have we lost the ability for multipurpose communication that might simulate our cognitive process and help us find a way forward, rather than just find a fleeting moment of acceptance?

I don’t think there is one answer, I don’t think there is a simple answer. I am concerned for us if we can’t even address the question though.