Here's another crossover post from my Sci Fi blog planckscaleblog that seems fitting in our world, and especially the world of our hyper kids. I wrote it last May. I suppose with the kids already living here, it's no surprise that I chose this topic...
It's amazing how we each can get so absorbed into our own endeavors that we become fascinated with the tiniest nibblets of information about our passion. Abraham Lincoln's chipped tooth, the slightly lower engine output in the early '67 Lotus vs. the same model later that year, a misprinted 1st edition, and so forth. Our lives have become so removed from necessity that we hone our natural OCD in less than essential directions.
I've come to the conclusion that we don't suffer from Obsessive/Compulsive Disorder, we thrive on it. It's what drives us. We climbed down out of the trees because of it, we invented the wheel, we pushed our way to the Moon on the stuff. How else would we ever have dragged our asses off the floor of the cave to create a bison trap if it weren't for our compulsions? We could have stayed by the fire and eaten whatever came our way.
You see, we have it backwards. The real in downfall of our bored society is a Disinterested Unmotivated Disorder (DUD). People who could care less about curiosity. We are naturally curious and motivated to learn. We're just wearing ourselves down to the bone on the mundane.
Time to celebrate our obsessions! Don't let them run your life, but don't dismiss them either. Obsession in moderation, I say!
Okay maybe that's a tad simplistic. Let me research it....and do a poll....and start a newsletter....and write a paper.....and get funding.....
