Thoughts?

This is probably the wrong forum for this question but I thought that a philosopher might want to philosophize about a scene from today’s life.

Do you know anyone who talks on his/her cell phone in public in a loud voice?
I was standing in a long line in a drug store yesterday. A woman was two people ahead of me. All the while that we were there she was chatting with someone on her cell in a louder than normal voice. I’m thinking that people could hear her clear across the store. If you know someone who does this (I’m betting she does this all the time) or if you do this can you explain why he/she or you do this? BTW thought that I would mention that she was dressed in a very expensive looking tennis outfit and drove a Mercedes in case that information makes a difference.
Annie

I don’t know her but isn’t it possible she may be having issues with hearing loss? Or perhaps she has a phone with a bad connection. Or she might be speaking to somebody with hearing issues.

Or she might just be somebody with a naturally booming, resonant voice. Perhaps she’s involved in the theater and is used to directing all her lines to be heard even up in the ‘nosebleed section’.

Or she might be a naturally shy person who perhaps has recently come into money and in a self-conscious way is trying to make herself more ‘assertive’ and is coming across instead as loud.

These are very intriguing thoughts. I don’t think that anyone of them applies but I think that you are a very creative thinker. I can say for absolute assurance, the lady is not shy. I wonder if it would have been rude of me to ask her where she was last weekend where it was 113 degrees. :smiley:

most of the civilized world?
take that back, most of the civilized world seems to have lapsed back into the age of the barbarians and the more technology the faster the regression.

don’t know what this has to do with philosophy when it is a matter of manners and civility, but in the airport yesterday I was privy to several highly confidential business conversations, ditto personal conversations, ditto medical advice, as was everyone within a 100 foot radius of the cell phone users. did you know some cell phones now have speaker phone? the end of the world as we know it

Around where I live people are guilty of not using cell phones when they should. Actually, I’m referring to them having a conversation with someone who happens to be hundreds of feet away. It boggles my mind. Why not get in closer proximity first? No, they just go on and on, shouting their conversation back and forth, while everyone within a quarter mile radius can hear it. Some people are just oblivious to consideration.

:thumbsup:

Yes, the details of her outfit and car are information that does make a difference.

Wealth is no respecter of common courtesy and civil manners.

The public restraints of social intercourse are looser than the people they are meant to address.

:slight_smile:

I talk loud. I´m deaf. I´m sorry. God bless:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

I’d peg it to psychology, but it seems to me there’s something healthy about being open and honest about our lives. And something unhealthy about being open about other parts of our lives. And something downright wrong about not knowing where to draw the line or how to tell the difference.

I understand that many deaf people do not know how loud they speak. However you apparently have been told that you speak loudly so I have a recommendation. That would be that you refrain from discussing your private life in public.

Annie

I guess that I’m luckier than I thought. I do not encounter this very often. Most people who talk on their phone around me keep their voices down and I’m not privy to their conversation. As for putting this in philosophy, I have found that folks who are philosophical are deep thinkers on other subjects especially subjects somewhat related as I think this is.

Annie

That materialism/selfism for you. When will this mechanical techoracy end :mad: :banghead:

OP: What was the subject matter of the call? Might draw some other prespectives of the topic. Might not :stuck_out_tongue:

It was about her recent trip to somewhere where it was 113 degrees, laying around the pool and things like that. I’m guessing she stayed in Palm Springs since we live close to that city. I can’t imagine traveling clear across the country to stay somewhere that hot when we have it here in our back yard. But then, she gave evidence that she may be one french fry short of a happy meal.

There are some people who do seem to tend to talk loudly specifically when using a phone.

The cell phone is a great tool that we have to learn to use properly. While I tend not to have a very positive outlook on humanity in the near future, the same problem, of not knowing how to properly use new technology, existed for cars. When cars first came out people drove like madmen and there were lots of horrible highway deaths. It might be that we’ll learn how to more appropriately use this technology in time.

A general knock against using phones like this is it takes you out of living in the moment which is anxiety producing. It also further atomizes people and dehumanizes those around us as we move amongst others disconnected in any way from them.

I agree that people who talk very loudly are irritating and some are exhibitionists who like drawing attention to themselves but many are so caught up in their conversation they become oblivious of their surroundings. I’m sure they are not even fully aware of your existence when they are absorbed by what the other person is saying and by their own thoughts and feelings. I often wonder whether they even notice me when I walk past them!:slight_smile: