To see the iPod as an agent of isolation rather than a symptom of, or a clever adaptation to, that isolation is to confuse cause and effect.
Kevin J. H. Dettmar
from Earbuds and Mosh Pits
Back in 2004, I wrote a rather rambling, free-form article about the role of the iPod in the promotion of social isolation ( available here: iPod Isolation ). I haphazardly thought out-loud about the power of the iPod to augment reality in an empowering way versus its traditionally conceived role in narrowing one’s reality in a socially awkward way.
Similarly, a new article in The Chronicle of Higher Education by Southern Illinois University at Carbondale professor Kevin J.H. Dettmar, entitled Earbuds and Mosh Pits, questions the role that iPod technology plays in promoting and/or suffocating social interaction and community building.
Mr. Dettmar’s experience speaks more directly to the community of music in particular and it’s relation to the iPod – rather than the larger community in general – and he presents an uplifting case from experience that the spirit of sharing (not just swapping tunes online) is alive and well despite our increasing musical isolationism.
Although the article overall was an enjoyable read, he does conclude with the following:
When I was in college, I heard almost all of my music on stereos in friends’ dorm rooms and apartments. Few of my students today have that luxury; they simply don’t have the time. I saw a doctoral student of mine recently at a Wilco show, down in the mosh pit, dancing. It changed my view of him entirely. It made me realize that we transform our students from people into scholars — a process of real narrowing — only at significant personal cost to them. So maybe we professors can change our perspective somewhat and see in those white iPod earbuds a symbol not of willful retreat, but of community deferred.
Is he here suggesting that demands upon students’ time are so great as to force them into deferring community and the experience of taking part in communal activities? And do I read him correctly and see the suggestion that the process of becoming a scholar is one that devalues community and promotes isolation? What exactly does he mean by “narrowing”?
He seems to imply (see opening quote) that students today are experiencing a greater isolationism than in the past and that the use of the iPod is a generational attempt to reclaim a sense of self – no, to maintain a sense of self – in a world that is continually narrowing and raping us of our community.
Moreover, he goes on to imply that our education today can be directly implicated in that “narrowing”. But I ask, is education today so different than it was in yesteryear? Do today’s students really have greater demands placed upon them than students of previous generations? I don’t know that they do, and in fact would suggest that despite the cutbacks in financial aid (cited by Mr. Dettmar) and the need to work full-time jobs, today’s students face an abundance of luxury and leisure not available to most students in the past.
If students today are deferring community it is by choice, perhaps because it’s easier to put those white earbuds in and drop out of the world than it is to invest oneself in genuine human interaction. By putting the headphones on, students are declaring that they have no obligation to the world in which they live – don’t mind me, I’m not here – and are refusing to take responsibility for building the necessary social skills required to live and work in an increasingly diverse world. It’s not that the technology is destroying a communal sense or common ground, but rather, by exiting the world of community and losing ourselves in our iPods, we are negating the chance of discovering the common ground that we do share.
Don’t get me wrong, I love my iPod too. But as with most things in life, the key is moderation (and yes, I’m a bad example of moderation myself). When the majority are shifting to the extremes of social isolation – be it by choice or not – then we will be facing a truly revolutionary change in the structure of society and community.
How do we get students to turn off their iPods and begin sharing in a communal setting? Perhaps the solution is simple. Maybe they just need more keg parties.
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Since the 60’s, Australian performance artist 
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