Have you ever seen one of those “Blanks That Changed the World” videos. The “blank” could be any invention, the steam engine, for example, or the light bulb, or some event, the Battle of Midway, for example, or the discovery of the DNA structure. Whereas it is true that some inventions and events have changed lifestyles, only one, I believe has changed humanity: The Camera.
Obviously, this is highly argumentative. “What about the A Bomb?” you ask, “or the airplane?” Good points, but I’m sticking with the camera, from its earliest form in daguerrotype images through black and white glass plate photos to 35 mm to digital cameras. I decided to elevate the camera’s invention to first place after perusing recent headlines in The New York Post this morning. This is what I saw:
https://nypost.com/2023/07/20/reason-for-scantily-clad-las-vegas-brawl-revealed/ As in other instances, the first reaction by witnesses is to record the event rather than to intervene. Human interactions are governed by an entertainment factor rather than by a compassion factor. And whereas it is true that bystanders have long chosen to simply stand by, it is now a practice for bystanders first to video rather than directly intervene or call for intervention. And if you go to YouTube, you can even see Ukrainian drone footage of Russians being killed as though the process were some video game.
https://pagesix.com/2023/07/21/artists-disturbing-utterly-fascinating-act-confuses-crowd-at-upscale-hamptons-benefit/?_gl=1*1n0c4x7*_ga*NTMxNDU1ODU2LjE2ODk5NDAxODE.*_ga_0DZ7LHF5PZ*MTY4OTk0MDIwMi4xLjEuMTY4OTk0MDI1OC4wLjAuMA..&_ga=2.25003194.1640671373.1689940181-531455856.1689940181 Almost anyone can achieve Andy Warhol’s “15 minutes of fame” because of the camera, and often those 15 minutes derive from attempts by individuals to “be unique.” And though there might not be a “normal human being,” there is certainly enough sense of one that motivates some people to act, clothe, or even disfigure to reveal their difference “from the normal.”
https://nypost.com/2023/07/20/biden-bribe-file-released-burisma-chief-said-both-joe-and-hunter-involved/ What drives a coddled rich kid with a history of drug and sex addiction to photo himself naked with women? And what drives an entire political party to react to such behavior with ad hominem attacks on those who expose the choices made by a senator-turned -VP-turned-POTUS’s son? Didn’t he turn the camera on himself? This was not the work of some chance bystander.
https://pagesix.com/2023/07/20/kevin-costners-ex-hits-beach-in-hawaii-after-nearly-130k-child-support-award/?_gl=1*v4x5b*_ga*NTIyNTE5NzgxLjE2ODk5NDA0MzA.*_ga_0DZ7LHF5PZ*MTY4OTk0MDQ0OC4xLjEuMTY4OTk0MDU0NC4wLjAuMA..&_ga=2.115104839.1392969171.1689940430-522519781.1689940430. The obsession with entertainment and political idols has generated the paparazzi and the tabloids that publish the images they take in the unceasing quest to eliminate privacy. So also, are the cameras so ubiquitous in our society that one can’t even drive through a toll booth without being photographed.
Sure, you can cite numerous other inventions and events that have changed the world, and I have no doubt that you can make better arguments for your choice than I can for mine, but I’m stubbornly going to stick with the camera’s invention for now.
Obviously, this is highly argumentative. “What about the A Bomb?” you ask, “or the airplane?” Good points, but I’m sticking with the camera, from its earliest form in daguerrotype images through black and white glass plate photos to 35 mm to digital cameras. I decided to elevate the camera’s invention to first place after perusing recent headlines in The New York Post this morning. This is what I saw:
https://nypost.com/2023/07/20/reason-for-scantily-clad-las-vegas-brawl-revealed/ As in other instances, the first reaction by witnesses is to record the event rather than to intervene. Human interactions are governed by an entertainment factor rather than by a compassion factor. And whereas it is true that bystanders have long chosen to simply stand by, it is now a practice for bystanders first to video rather than directly intervene or call for intervention. And if you go to YouTube, you can even see Ukrainian drone footage of Russians being killed as though the process were some video game.
https://pagesix.com/2023/07/21/artists-disturbing-utterly-fascinating-act-confuses-crowd-at-upscale-hamptons-benefit/?_gl=1*1n0c4x7*_ga*NTMxNDU1ODU2LjE2ODk5NDAxODE.*_ga_0DZ7LHF5PZ*MTY4OTk0MDIwMi4xLjEuMTY4OTk0MDI1OC4wLjAuMA..&_ga=2.25003194.1640671373.1689940181-531455856.1689940181 Almost anyone can achieve Andy Warhol’s “15 minutes of fame” because of the camera, and often those 15 minutes derive from attempts by individuals to “be unique.” And though there might not be a “normal human being,” there is certainly enough sense of one that motivates some people to act, clothe, or even disfigure to reveal their difference “from the normal.”
https://nypost.com/2023/07/20/biden-bribe-file-released-burisma-chief-said-both-joe-and-hunter-involved/ What drives a coddled rich kid with a history of drug and sex addiction to photo himself naked with women? And what drives an entire political party to react to such behavior with ad hominem attacks on those who expose the choices made by a senator-turned -VP-turned-POTUS’s son? Didn’t he turn the camera on himself? This was not the work of some chance bystander.
https://pagesix.com/2023/07/20/kevin-costners-ex-hits-beach-in-hawaii-after-nearly-130k-child-support-award/?_gl=1*v4x5b*_ga*NTIyNTE5NzgxLjE2ODk5NDA0MzA.*_ga_0DZ7LHF5PZ*MTY4OTk0MDQ0OC4xLjEuMTY4OTk0MDU0NC4wLjAuMA..&_ga=2.115104839.1392969171.1689940430-522519781.1689940430. The obsession with entertainment and political idols has generated the paparazzi and the tabloids that publish the images they take in the unceasing quest to eliminate privacy. So also, are the cameras so ubiquitous in our society that one can’t even drive through a toll booth without being photographed.
Sure, you can cite numerous other inventions and events that have changed the world, and I have no doubt that you can make better arguments for your choice than I can for mine, but I’m stubbornly going to stick with the camera’s invention for now.
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