I refer to my work entitled Phaedrus to reiterate, “It’s not speaking or writing well that’s shameful; what’s really shameful is to engage in either of them shamefully or badly†and as I see it… all of you are shameful (Nehamas, 51). My friends, allow me to inquire, why is it that you are losing the art of conversation as communication technology progresses? The 21st century has bestowed you with mobile phones, emails, instant messaging, chat rooms, and social networking sites such as this one. Currently, there are over 200 social networking sites and MySpace reigns supreme with more page views than popular search engine Google.com (Mermigas, 2). It is the medium in which you communicate that determines the quality of your interactions and as MySpace continues to prosper…false rhetoric will prevail. MySpace encourages you to abandon your direct, sensory experience of the world, diminish the capacity of your mind, and use bad rhetoric in order to appeal to society.
While the technology of writing has the power to destroy the dialogic relationship that should take place between teacher and student, it too has the power to cause society to become socially inadequate face-to-face (Feenberg, 1). MySpace users are represented as mere photographs and are able to communicate with other users without any spoken discourse. You surrender that genuine face-to-face interaction to a dreary, unresponsive computer screen. Without that interaction, there is no emotion, no dialectic. Defined as the essence of science and the guide for all discourse, dialectic fosters knowledge and being as its subject matter. Through dialectic, you resist the temptation to talk about people and instead, discover the noble and eternal truths of ideal forms (Golden, 62). Devoid of dialectic, there is no knowledge, emotion, or life, so tell me, my good friends, is that truly how you intend to experience the world before you? Indeed, I have asked a ridiculous question. Surely, now that I have made you aware of such a life, no one would consciously aspire to experience it.
Furthermore, MySpace users do not need to communicate to uncover the depths of each other’s desires, let alone retain them. You have all come to rely on external records instead of exercising your mind. Like the dialogic relationship, writing also damages your mind, relieving it of the work that makes it strong (Haren, 1). MySpace provides you with daily birthday reminders, users’ likes and dislikes, and links instantly accessed by the click of your mouse. Why invest time in getting to know someone when you have complete access to his or her life story? Let me tell you why, my friends. When you take the time to understand a way of life other than your own, you expand your wisdom and strengthen your mind. Memory is an important component of your daily routine and must be implemented as much as possible.
Comprehending another’s true self and possessing the ability to retain it reduces the abundance of false rhetoric. False rhetoric is all too common in a society where ideal norms are paramount. Listen closely, my dear friends, as I ask my next question, for I expect to invoke profound consideration. Have you shaped your personal profile to reflect your true self or have you fashioned it to satisfy the norms of society? Perhaps you should take a second look at the communication technology you choose to define yourself. Is your MySpace profile concurrent with false rhetoric in seeing that it is showy in appearance, self-serving, and quite possibly…artificial (Golden, 56)? Have I caused you to discover doubt in your initial intentions as a MySpace user? Know that it is never too late to implement true rhetoric in all that you do. True rhetoric is truthful, self-effacing, and real; it is something you yourself have to find in the depths of your soul.
Social interaction in the flesh, knowledge, memory, and true rhetoric all establish the art of conversation. Take these words and make them part of your daily practice as you encounter new experiences. Well, this speech is plenty long. If you would like to hear more or have any questions, feel free to message me. Thank you.
