My Problems with Post-Modernism

       Last Friday we had a speaker from IGSS, Mr. Markham give us an interesting talk that really summed up a lot of the ideas in White Noise, and related them to a specific philosophy, post-modernism. I was interested particularly by the topic we discussed in the second period of the class, the interaction between objects and personal relationships. The speaker presented the idea of a progression of what is "real" in American culture, from person to person relationships, to objects, to an obscure endpoint based off of irony. However, I believe his argument was flawed, and based off of assumptions about the interactions of humans and objects that aren't true.
       Mr. Markham greatly overstated the impact of objects on person to person relationships. It is undeniably true that the number of products in human society is greater now than at any time in the past. It is also true that those objects play a greater role in interactions on a day to day basis. But I'm skeptical of the speaker's assertion that the growing importance of objects somehow means that people are less "real." I believe that objects can be understood not as a replacement of more traditional relationships, but as tools or facilitators of those relationships.
       One example of this is clothing. There's no disagreement that there are more types of clothing today than in the past, or that your choice of clothing communicates messages about you. However, clothing choices can better be understood as context for relationships instead of a replacement for them. You choose your clothes based on who you believe you are; what you believe your place is in life, and not the other way around. The vast number of choices enables self expression. What you where certainly plays a part in how you interact with others, but serves to supplement instead of obscure, by creating another way to communicate who you are.
       A more concrete example, and one brought up during class, discussion was the cellphone. A phone seems like the perfect example of objects gradually replacing traditional social structures. I would argue, though, that the cellphone actually helps relationships. Most times when you text, you're between classes, at home, or in other situations when you wouldn't be able to talk with friends anyway. By making communication easier, cellphones improve friendships, and allow people to maintain relationships that otherwise would have faded. The counter-argument is that there situations in which people use their instead of talking to a friend they're with, but I believe the net effect of phones is positive.
       Humans don't exist in a vacuum. We are surrounded by both other people and objects. I believe Americans today are still fundamentally focused on relationships with others, and objects facilitate those relationships, instead of damaging them.

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