brown2020

I just finished watching Barbara Walter’s hour long special, Barbara Walters Presents: The 10 Most Fascinating People of 2008, and I thought I would share my notes. I am typing notes furiously while I watch, so this might look a little rough when I read it in the morning. Here are my notes:

10: Will Smith. The biggest star of the box office of the past decade, Will’s movies grossed over $5 billion total and well over $100 million each for his last 8 movies: Men in Black II, Bad Boys II, I Robot, Shark Tale, Hitch, The Pursuit of Happyness, I Am Legend, and Hancock. What is the secret to his success? Will cares about people, and because he cares so much, all he wants to do is to create something special, something that that makes people feel good. The values that permeate Will Smith’s life and work started at home, where he acquired both a desire to do good and strong sense of discipline. He does not tolerate anything less than 100% from himself. Barack Obama told him that if ever there would be a movie about Barack, he would want Will Smith to play him. Will admitted to saying that he could be president himself if he chose to, but added the caveat to Barbara Walters that he would never, ever choose to. Making movies and making people feel good is way too much fun.

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In 1853 when Giuseppe Donati invented the classical wind instrument he called the “ocarina” in his workshop in the village of Budrio, Italy, people tended to know the daily activities of their neighbors. When someone in your neighborhood played the ocarina in his or her home late at night, not only could you hear it, but you also might have recognized the player and the tune. Maybe you would join in on your own instrument.

You would probably have much less of an awareness of the world beyond the vicinity of Budrio, not much past the big city of Bologna. But you knew your neighbors: Their stories, their experiences, their music, their relationships, and their gossip all had a place in your brain.

In the next century people would gain an ever-expanding awareness of the world beyond their local community through the virtual experiences of mass media. Starting with motion pictures, then television, 24-hour news channels, and the Internet, the world would become a lot smaller. We now live in a state of continuous awareness of the entire world. At the same time, we have become less aware of and connected to the people in our own local communities.

There has been much written lately about brain training and brain plasticity, and how we are entering the brain fitness age. If our experiences with the world can change the wiring of our brains, then how is our immersion into the constant stimulation of digital media affecting us? Is our continuous experience with the larger world through digital media impairing our ability to socially connect with our neighbors?

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