But recently I realized the value they have. Humans need cycles and renovations. They need to get to a point where they can look back to what happened and what didn't in their lives and plan for the next cycle to make better. They need celebrations to allow them to relieve important moments and to realize that time is passing.
We celebrate not because the day itself has any special meaning, but because every one of us can get a special meaning out of it.
I was already coming to the realization, but the turning point was when a friend of mine told me her experiences working in countries close to the equator, where seasons and cycles don't exists. There, the culture is to live by the day, because winter never comes and they don't need to prepare for hard seasons. If they are hungry, fruits are always available, food is always provided by nature.
For this reason they don't plan ahead at work, they don't save money and they waste a lot of resources thinking that there will always be something provided to them. This was her hardest problem in working in those cultures.
So, these cycles shape cultures and are a big part of what pushed mankind forward. Now I look at them with different eyes.
It would be good to know in which country your friend went to and what she was doing there. I was born an raised in Colombia (you can tell it by my far from perfect English), been living in Europe for more than five years now, and I've had the opportunity to travel to more than a dozen different countries. I completely disagree about the conclusion your friend jumped into from her experience near the Equator.
It was 1986, if I remember correctly, when our country was hit by El Niño[1]. We barely had rain for months, so the government decided for the first time ever, to implement day-light saving time and electricity rationing. Most of our energy is hydropower, so it was very important for us to make a very conservative use of electricity. Schools and offices changed their schedules and everyone was very conscious about the situation. I was just a child, but I realized how important our natural resources were and that there is a really big difference between using them and wasting them.
I speak for myself, but believe me when I tell you this was a generalized sentiment. I lived in a big city, but there are small villages (even Today) that only have running water for a couple of hours a day, because there's not enough money to keep the water treatment plant turned on 24/7.
Now, living in the first world, I can tell that people here in general tend to be less conscious about those facts. I see it everyday at my office, at parties, public events, etc.
I don't think this has to do with geography, it's something cultural and it's not like that in the place where I come from. Is people in Hawaii living day by day and wasting resources because they are closer to the equator? I don't think so.
I recommend you to travel more, don't let your friends tell you, experience it first hand, get to know different people, different places. It makes you a better person and changes your perspective on certain things.
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Ni%C3%B1o%E2%80%93Southern_O...
Definitely that's not the entire world. But what you are explaining is what I was saying, only in the reverse. In your country you had situations where you really had to plan and rationalize to go through extreme climate problems. Then again, every country and culture is different.
You might find this video interesting. Philip Zimbardo on Time. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3oIiH7BLmg
Sure they do. In central Africa at least, the year is divided into the dry and rainy seasons.
I suppose though it's based heavily around social signals - which means apparently my friends thought me attending an Orioles game was more important than my marriage.
It's the same thing with my friends: My 5 closest friends don't even register on my facebook feed, because I talk to them regularly in person and share experiences with them. The more intimate private conversations. It's the next 50 that show up constantly in facebook, hitting like ex post facto.
I really enjoyed how it was frictionless to get an interesting view of my year.
"See Your 2012 Year in Review Look back at your 20 biggest moments from the past year."
Are you kidding me? These are my 20 biggest moments from last year? Only because they're posted on Facebook?
Got to be kidding me. It's time to delete my account.
Like, if this are my bigest moments in life in 2012.... then I must post more, meaningful stuff to facebook so that my yearly review in 2013 will be more satisfying.
so they indirectly ask you to add more meaningful content to your wall... otherwise your review in 2013 will suck again.
http://www.facebook.com/yearinreview/<insert_friends_use...;
Refreshingly empty. I use Facebook as a last resort to contact friends and was pleased to see they didn't drag anyone else's year-in-review into mine.
I use FB maybe several times a week, as a time killer. Sometimes I may share things (status, pictures), but I'm certainly not "on top of it".
My "year in review" is certainly NOT the sum of everything I posted to facebook. When I go on a road trip with friends, the pictures do not always make their way there. Not every person I date becomes a relationship status.
I used to argue to fb detractors and holders out that it's not intended as a socializing replacement, but just as an enhancer. But this just seems to reinforce the fact that, for many people...what they've publicly shared online defines them.
I guess it just kind of saddens me that, for many people, this WILL be a summary of their 2012. I think I'm having trouble really articulating what bugs me about it, but it just feels like validation that Facebook is gamifying people's lives into being about making Facebook some sort of mirror of their real life, which is not a future I'm on board with.
It was kind of funny/corny. Here's a youtube video of someone who uploaded theirs:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owCojITbuSo
I thought that the juxtaposition of the music with some of the content it chooses can be funny at times.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151391609962845
Released this concept today as sort of a "Your Life in Review" for children and grandchildren to follow your life story through Facebook.
