EDITORIAL: People are too personalized

It seems people have forgotten how to get along. Our sensitivity to being offended has gotten to point that we now expect the whole world to adapt to our own personal idea of what’s acceptable. We are so disconnected, and our technology allows everything about our lives to be so personalized, that we expect other human beings to be just as customizable.

We increasingly live in worlds entirely unto ourselves. We put in our ear buds and tune out everything we don’t feel like dealing with. We screen our calls so we don’t have to talk to anyone we don’t want to. We personalize our television schedule, personalize our cell phone, our radio stations… We can even choose which news we are exposed to based on what we agree with. Everything is made to function exactly the way we want it to, except for other human beings.

We attempt to control others through the idea of political correctness. When someone doesn’t act the way we want them to, when they don’t feel the way we think they should, it offends us. It frustrates us. We act like spoiled children who hear the word “no” for the first time. Every aspect of my world can be customized to my desire, so what gives this jerk the right to disagree with me? Doesn’t he know that bothers me? I am the most important person in my world, so why can’t I force people to say only the things I like?

For some reason we feel entitled to never have to be uncomfortable. We have forgotten how to interact with one another because for the most part, we don’t have to. We spend large chunks time in our own world where everything is designed specifically to please us. This makes us highly sensitive. Like a baby that is never exposed to any germs grows up with a weak immune system, so are we made less resilient to accept other people’s diverse modes of expression.

Everyone is different and that offends us.

The real world is messy and difficult and sometimes careless. As our society places more emphasis on retreat and personalization, please remember that other human beings are not here to please us. Just because the modern world may have made you more sensitive, please don’t expect others to conform to your idea of “acceptable.” The messy, difficult, real world is the one we have to live in, and it is full of ideas and people and beliefs that exist whether we like it or not.

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