Is all this focus on socializing driving down America?

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I mean it is everywhere... Texting, you have to be a social butterfly to even be considered for most jobs( what I would give for a job as an auto salvage yard parts guy), social networking sites like facebook, etc... In someways it seems so creepy, all this focus on being around other people all the damn time... I mean Twitter is a site where people update other people on every facet of their life... come on people, do we REALLY need to know that you just took a massive dump? I can understand being nice to people and courteous when in public, but lately it borders on just creepy...

The person administering where I work has onde answer. Do NOT give him facts on both sides and expect a decision. He wants you to set up a meeting or a phone call on the disputed point and DISCUSS and RESOLVE it.

Mingle, guys, mingle.

Yes, I think it's going to be a problem in the long run that social skills are an entry requirement for most jobs. Requiring one skill for every job means that people who specialize in something other than that skill will be rejected--and their possible innovations will be passed up in favor of an inferior product by someone who probably won't be nearly as sharply specialized in that area. This is most dangerous for jobs which require sharp specialization--not every job does.

Now, people with autism are making a great deal of headway as far as getting jobs; and in some fields, such as theoretical science, engineering, and academia, social clumsiness is acceptable and even expected; not coincidentally, these are the jobs where the people with the narrowest specialties tend to work. If things go the way I hope they will, social skills will decrease in importance as "gatekeepers" of employment, and the only social requirement that remains will be something along the lines of, "Must not have malevolent intentions or act in damaging ways toward fellow humans."

The necessity to be able to shmooze has definitely been on the increase since the rise of corporatization in the last century. But, as Shadwell pointed out, e-tech and gadgets don't actually increase sociability. They in fact hamper it.

Before: Imagine only 2 people communicating (in person face to face) and the space between them and what could possibly get mixed up in the understanding. Also there's the innevitable space/loneness of our own being.

Now: Imagine not only do we have the aforementioned space and possible problems, but we also have the added divisive element of the communication device.

The paradox is that every advance in communication technology that has allowed us greater covering of distance and speed ability, has simultaneously detracted from our ability to successfully communicate and in fact, distanced us further.

Shadwell: "Pulse" looks really good. I'm going to check that movie out

Not necessarily. Using the Internet has improved my communication ability tremendously. In fact, without the existence of written language, I might still conceivably be incapable of precise communication at all. It was written language that first taught me how to get my ideas across instead of just following scripts and matching patterns; and it's still written language that lets me communicate on an equal footing with all the other people in the world. Without all the subtext to worry about, technology allows me to use my strengths and communicate exactly what I mean to say.

I believe all this socializing is driving down America. I am sick and tired of driving down the road and nearly being wiped out by oncoming texting drivers---this happens often on the roads I drive. What is it with having to socialize all the time??? As Temple Grandin related---if it weren't for us Aspies nothing would get done because people would just be talking on the street corners. And while I'm griping---what is it with group work in school??? Yuck . Let me work alone. Oh, I graduated years ago, I guess I don't have to worry about that anymore.

I think that the emphasis on socialization is driving America and other countries down.

YES! People are turned down from job acclipations that they would be really good at but either get fired because they aren't "social" enough or because the application requires good comunication skills like it is the end of the world. If it weren't for us non social types, the human race would probably still be in caves gossiping about UggUgg's mammoth fur fashion disaster.

The irony here is that you're posting about this on a messageboard, another seemingly unnecessary social medium where insignificant messages are exchanged. What do you hope to achieve by socially connecting to others with your message about the superfluous nature of social connections? Are you aiming for the comfort of knowing that others agree with you and you're not alone, or do you wish for your message to encourage some small change in the way society is headed?

Both are valid reasons for making a social connection with others, forming stronger connections empowers a person in numerous ways, both in the area of personal feelings and in obtaining a greater influence over their peers and surroundings... As you yourself realize. Being connected with more people offers a greater variety of opportunities in this world (such as employment) than one can have while trying to go solo. That's why people find it important to socialize.

Also, knowing that humans so desperately desire socialization, for these reasons stated above (and many others too) is what has allowed certain people and organizations to come up with the ideas to create such utterly trivial websites like "twitter" to reel them all in like moths to a flame, harness their energies like hamsters on wheels, and take advantage of them by letting them socialize until their little hearts are content.

You can take at least two pieces of knowledge from this. The first being an understanding of what socialization has to offer, as unfair as its advantages may seem. The second being that you are different from the majority and are capable of seeing how easily manipulated they are by their own simple animal drives, putting you in a position to potentially take advantage of that yourself, again, however "unfair" those advantages may seem. There are of course many more little pieces of knowledge you can draw from the perspective you hold, and they don't necessarily all have to be knowledge of how terrible and depressing the world is. They can just as easily be about neutrally understanding the way the world works, in ways that many are unable to perceive, and what you can do with that information, rather than lamenting over it.

I do agree that things like twitter are a complete waste of time, but if that's what the little monkeys want to play with then I see no reason why it shouldn't be sold to them. To say socializing would ruin America, however, doesn't make much sense, since America itself is nothing but one big social network. There is no America without socialization, and even trivial twitter updates technically do create a slightly stronger social glue... Even if it's just a kind of leaky glue puddle that you wouldn't personally want to step in.