i was just thinking why is it getting harder to connect with people these days as we grow older. i dun mean im having a problem connecting with people now, just that i see it as harder than before. why? dim gai?
mm, i would assert a big portion of the reason to because we are growing older. yea like angeline said as we grow older, the time we are able to spend with our friends also shortens, say like your primary school friends, from the time you met and knew them to now - about 10 years and counting, secondary school friends, about 6 years and counting, jc friends, about 3 years and counting, uni friends, about 1 year and counting. going by this theory you are suppose to be closest to primary school friends? but this isnt the case for most people. why? dim gai?
perhaps this might be because the secondary school period is the purest and most significant part of forming who we are now i think. the people we meet, the way we interact with one another, the norms and culture formed then teaches us how to deal with social situations we've never set ourselves in before secondary school (since who can we meet other than our families before secondary school). and we sort of formed our first line of frequency with our secondary school friends, sort of influenced each other to believe in a set of values and form attitudes towards different issues and people. this i would call the growing up phase. like we were all growing up in a similar environment with our secondary school friends.
then we go on to junior college, these values and attitudes might change a little as we meet new people, we learn how to deal with different social situations as we set ourselves in different ones, and we form a different but similar line of frequency with new people we meet in there. and maybe through groups like CCA or class, because of a common identity and meeting each other almost everyday, the friendship forged might still be rather strong. this i would call the stabilising phase.
and then off to uni we start to meet people from all over we never knew existed. like all kinds of people (personality wise). from here onwards, we've already had a set of values and attitude towards issues and different social situations. we've sort of been polluted, become more complicated. we stereotype people base on our own values and beliefs. we judge people on their actions and things they talk about. we choose people to befriend with, people whom you think share common values and frequencies as you. because of values, attitudes and actions you disagree with or dislike, you might just dismiss this person who could possibly be a genuine and potential friend. as this process takes place, in a way we are finding it hard to connect with people.
because essentially we've lost our pureness in befriending people. we select people to befriend with instead of simply befriending people, we have our reservations about people and compare them wtih friends we are comfortable with like secondary school and jc friends. which i wana say is unfair because sec sch friends have gone through so much with you, like the entire growing up phase, of course you will have many common values, frequency and attitudes with them.
im not trying to judge if this is a bad or good thing, i think its kinda inevitable. just like one will grow old and die. okay this is a lousy analogy but it just will happen when we meet new people from now on. so maybe thats why we always say sec sch friends are the best i guess. best as in people whom you are most comfortable to be with and people who knows you best.
from now on friends might increase in quantity but quality wise, it might just as well be stagnant (there may always be exceptions i dun want to tie a dead knot here).
i duno if i've put the idea across clearly i've just blabbered in the most organised way i could. if you duno what this is about just forget it. and im definitely not directing this entry towards anyone or any incident, just a mindmap that extended from the question about connecting with people i had in mind.
what the heck what's with this blog entry. like some sociology essay. its all OB's fault (this subject im doing this sem), and some things that i saw is happening which left me pondering over this issue.
and thats the thing about ageing and growing up. things always become more complicated. i dun wana grow up.