Yesterday I defined trump words as terms that are used in argument that are difficult if not impossible to refute. After writing about screen time yesterday, some have suggested other terms, and I've thought of a few myself. One that maybe is the best illustration of this technique is politically correct. Any attempts to show sensitivity toward a group can be instantly invalidated by accusation of political correctness. Likewise, the preface, “This might not be politically correct…” gives license to the speaker to voice virtually any statement without responsibility for causing offense.
However, this isn't the word that I intended for today. Instead I'd like to keep the focus on words we use to battle change or dismiss attempts at innovation.
Another trump word that is used in the area of new digital realities is narcissism. The use of social media and digital communication tools is often described as contributing to the narcissism of young people. For goodness sake, they take endless pictures of themselves and post them for the world to see. They are constantly looking to texts for affirmation and identity. They write blog posts about their most mundane thoughts experimces, and observations and send them out to the world as if someone is interested (uh oh). Clearly these are all symptoms of extreme narcissism, and clearly they are caused by digital tools. Digital tools are bad because they encourage narcissism. How could anyone want that?
Once again, my argument is with the black an white conclusion of this trump word. I'm not saying that young people aren't narcissistic…I think this part of the definition of being a young person…or a person. Nor am I saying that digital tools can't be used improperly with negative effects. What I object to is the blanket condemnation through a non-quantifyable term (the line between appropriate self esteem and pathological narcissism…if it exists…is razor thin). Not every person who uses digital tools is narcissistic, nor does every narcissist use digital tools (I have found many of the pundits who preach this message to be extremely narcissistic. My generation did not grow up taking selfies…because we didn't have the tools to do this. There is no moral superiority in primitive photographic equipment.
As we move forward into a digital future, we do not advance either progress in the field or honest analysis by painting in black and white poison terms. We must refuse to be trumped by ignorance in our search for truth.
As always, I welcome your comments
Image: https://www.flickr.com/photos/centralasian/7164371273
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