I was nudging around on my mother's breast, searching for sustenance. Only later did I realize the milk had stopped flowing and my internal organs held a meeting. Shortly, and after a quick vote, a decision was handed down.
"We want to stay alive." - is the best translation available. "HELP" -- is another.
The organs used every primitive communication signal they had at their disposal. Electrical impulse was sent through the nervous system with the message: S.O.S. The literal translation looks like: Get some attention from somebody who will keep us alive. When we were pre-verbal years old, it was likely a mother, nurse, or somebody who gave two shits about whether we survived the night. How did we get so lucky?
Fast forward to modern day — specifically Twitter. Grown ass adults are navigating these covid times and struggling to sort out the ways and means of survival. Many need money. Others want to know they're not alone in the world. Both the needs and the wants have us all warming up that same old signal-sending biology that once limited us to sending up the signal flares.
What we're saying, in oh so many clever tweets is - "Hey, look at me. Attend to me. Give me some attention."
We learned somewhere along the way there was more than food involved. We were weaned off the teet and quickly developed a need for love and belonging. Maslow figured it out somewhere along the way and created a visual called the pyramid of needs. Suffice it to say that many of us play near the middle where basic survival needs are met but you're still trying to enjoy life and figure out why you're here.
I tweet and write for basic thinking and enjoyment. The words generate satisfying imagery in my mind. If it sparks something in others they might connect. When they do, I get a double dose of dopamine that has me coming back for more. I got addicted to that. I crave more. May I ever calm the insatiable beast of attention?
"We want to stay alive." - is the best translation available. "HELP" -- is another.
The organs used every primitive communication signal they had at their disposal. Electrical impulse was sent through the nervous system with the message: S.O.S. The literal translation looks like: Get some attention from somebody who will keep us alive. When we were pre-verbal years old, it was likely a mother, nurse, or somebody who gave two shits about whether we survived the night. How did we get so lucky?
Fast forward to modern day — specifically Twitter. Grown ass adults are navigating these covid times and struggling to sort out the ways and means of survival. Many need money. Others want to know they're not alone in the world. Both the needs and the wants have us all warming up that same old signal-sending biology that once limited us to sending up the signal flares.
What we're saying, in oh so many clever tweets is - "Hey, look at me. Attend to me. Give me some attention."
We learned somewhere along the way there was more than food involved. We were weaned off the teet and quickly developed a need for love and belonging. Maslow figured it out somewhere along the way and created a visual called the pyramid of needs. Suffice it to say that many of us play near the middle where basic survival needs are met but you're still trying to enjoy life and figure out why you're here.
I tweet and write for basic thinking and enjoyment. The words generate satisfying imagery in my mind. If it sparks something in others they might connect. When they do, I get a double dose of dopamine that has me coming back for more. I got addicted to that. I crave more. May I ever calm the insatiable beast of attention?
