Why are we so angry?
Lead Summary
By
-
By Jim Thompson
HCP columnist
A few days ago in a column in the Wall Street Journal, Peggy Noonan discussed the current hostile language in our country. She cited an author from the 1930s who was chiding folks for the hostile and vulgar language of that day. Noonan largely concludes that today’s hostile language is based on the political divide in this country.
While I agree with her, I don’t think that is the total story.
There are two other ongoing issues that are contributors as well. One is the gender identity silliness that is happening. Got news for you: I am going to address you with the pronoun appropriate to the sex I think you were born with. Get over it, snowflake.
From my point of view, however, the biggest source of hostility in speech comes through my phone. You will identify. It is these insane computer voices that ask me endless questions in order to “promptly help me with my issue.”
The first thing wrong with this is that they don’t ask questions germane to “my issue.” The second is that my voice is very scratchy and hard to understand, even by humans, sometimes. Sometimes, I just give up and slam the phone down.
As a business, if you are using a computer for your customers to reach you, and your customers, through either problems they have with their voice or the fact you bought your computer system from the lowest bidder, can’t communicate with you, guess what? They are going to go somewhere else if they can.
Of course, if you are dealing with a government entity, they have you in a monopolistic choke hold and you have no choice but to deal with them. Regular readers know how I feel about that situation.
So, these computers can’t understand me. And since I know it is a computer, I scream, yell and curse at them. After all, I am not talking to a human.
But this attitude can get transferred to our relationships with real humans, particularly a discussion with a real human right after one of these experiences. You know, the kind that might happen right after you miraculously got through 27 questions with the computer, and they decide to transfer you to their real human associate, “Joe” in Hyderabad.
I really don’t know what to do about this. On Medicare, I end up talking to computers more than ever, and my voice is getting worse all the time. It is not that I have not tried to fix the problem. I have had two operations on my vocal cords in the last half dozen years. My voice only gets worse.
When do I have my best voice? When I have a heavy cold and a lot of phlegm in my throat. However, that seldom improves my mood in terms of having a civil discourse with my fellow human beings.
We have discussed singularity before. This is the condition which will exist when the computers and the humans become indistinguishable from each other. Let me tell you, the computers still have a long way to go.
Jim Thompson, formerly of Marshall, is a graduate of Hillsboro High School and the University of Cincinnati. He resides in Duluth, Ga. and is a columnist for The Highland County Press. He may be reached at jthompson@taii.com.
HCP columnist
A few days ago in a column in the Wall Street Journal, Peggy Noonan discussed the current hostile language in our country. She cited an author from the 1930s who was chiding folks for the hostile and vulgar language of that day. Noonan largely concludes that today’s hostile language is based on the political divide in this country.
While I agree with her, I don’t think that is the total story.
There are two other ongoing issues that are contributors as well. One is the gender identity silliness that is happening. Got news for you: I am going to address you with the pronoun appropriate to the sex I think you were born with. Get over it, snowflake.
From my point of view, however, the biggest source of hostility in speech comes through my phone. You will identify. It is these insane computer voices that ask me endless questions in order to “promptly help me with my issue.”
The first thing wrong with this is that they don’t ask questions germane to “my issue.” The second is that my voice is very scratchy and hard to understand, even by humans, sometimes. Sometimes, I just give up and slam the phone down.
As a business, if you are using a computer for your customers to reach you, and your customers, through either problems they have with their voice or the fact you bought your computer system from the lowest bidder, can’t communicate with you, guess what? They are going to go somewhere else if they can.
Of course, if you are dealing with a government entity, they have you in a monopolistic choke hold and you have no choice but to deal with them. Regular readers know how I feel about that situation.
So, these computers can’t understand me. And since I know it is a computer, I scream, yell and curse at them. After all, I am not talking to a human.
But this attitude can get transferred to our relationships with real humans, particularly a discussion with a real human right after one of these experiences. You know, the kind that might happen right after you miraculously got through 27 questions with the computer, and they decide to transfer you to their real human associate, “Joe” in Hyderabad.
I really don’t know what to do about this. On Medicare, I end up talking to computers more than ever, and my voice is getting worse all the time. It is not that I have not tried to fix the problem. I have had two operations on my vocal cords in the last half dozen years. My voice only gets worse.
When do I have my best voice? When I have a heavy cold and a lot of phlegm in my throat. However, that seldom improves my mood in terms of having a civil discourse with my fellow human beings.
We have discussed singularity before. This is the condition which will exist when the computers and the humans become indistinguishable from each other. Let me tell you, the computers still have a long way to go.
Jim Thompson, formerly of Marshall, is a graduate of Hillsboro High School and the University of Cincinnati. He resides in Duluth, Ga. and is a columnist for The Highland County Press. He may be reached at jthompson@taii.com.