Kentte Birlikte Yaşam ve Yalnızlık Arasında Bir Ritüel: Uygar İlgisizlik

Extended Summary

With the requirement of cohabitation, man must adjust not only physically but also ethically to new conditions. This is one of the most important elements of being a social being. Due to this necessity, people have acquired a new ritual in order to adapt to the changing conditions. In order to live in safety and serenity as a social creature, metropolitan people create a protective shield for themselves called civil inattention. Civil inattention, with its simple definition, is to feel safe and free in large crowds of people without disturbing and threatening others. This practice, which arose as a result of the growing population and concentration of job prospects in select areas, drew menacing looks from both others and themselves. After a brief glimpse, the person tries to look away, implying that the other party is safe.

The city is defined as the maximum concentration point for the power and culture of a community. From the Ancient Greek perspective, human life outside of living as a political entity would become insecure and devoid of meaning. Urban life was perceived as the cradle of civilization, and politeness and manners were seen as characteristics unique to urban people. The concept of “urban air” has been introduced, which suggests that the social constraints common in rural life are weaker within the city and relieve the inhabitants of the city from the pressure to achieve their individual goals from suppression. The daily life of the individual passes between the home and the workplace, with the changing and uniform spaces due to population growth and the concentration of job opportunities. While the individual is alienated from the city the spatial appearance of the city is fading.

Civil inattention, which makes modern living bearable, can be expressed as a person pretending not to look or listen in society, or as an effort to portray that the person is uninterested in what other people are doing or saying in his surroundings. This is a very common and trivial situation. This happens millions of times a day in any street of any city. The “moral invisibility” achieved through civil inattention in communal living spaces offers the possibility of freedom that cannot be imagined under various conditions. As long as the unwritten rules of civil inattenation are universally obeyed, people can live comfortably in crowded city streets. This gives people the opportunity to watch, discover new things and be amazed. In other words, it kind of prepares an experimental environment in which the person can develop. City living and abstract thought go hand in hand and thrive when they are put together. However, in addition to such advantages, there are also disadvantages of civil inattention. The annoying and curious gaze of others removes the sympathetic interest and willingness to help. In the hustle and bustle of the city, callous human inattention emerges. This leads to the fragmentation of society, a decline in altruism, and the emergence of an army of loners.

The definition of public space in the dictionary is “a place where public works are carried out.” In this sense, the individual discusses the urban problems related to the public space, which is defined as the common areas, and expresses his ideas in this area. Over time, the public sphere’s conceptual approach and bounds have evolved and changed. In this sense, the public sphere of Ancient Greek, where the distinction between public and private spheres began to emerge, and the public sphere of the modern world mean different things. With the development of mass media and digitalization, the public sphere has gained digital visibility.

When one of the individuals with different social status and physical appearance is in the environment, it turns into a moral ritual in which the minimal civil inattention of these other individuals is tested. One of the biggest challenges faced by people with physical disabilities is standing in public space to attack people’s privacy and stare at them. This look is the disclosure of their undesirable traits.

The clarity of the boundaries of public and private spheres is changing and transforming day by day. With digitalization, the border of public and private space has become blurred and even intertwined. With the emergence of the digital public sphere as a new field, the public sphere has become visible in the discussions and shares on social media platforms. Streets and avenues are becoming devoid of words and communication. The abandonment of communication in this area occupied by consumption and capital leaves people to areas where they lose their sensitivity. Such a space envisioning can make the individual insensitive. Although civil inattention offers the individual a free space in urban life, if cities are not designed in a human-oriented structure, civil inattention can make the individual insensitive.

Social media, which is defined as the new public sphere, should be regulated with the same sensitivity and evolve into a democratic space where no one is marginalized. Although web 2.0 introduced innovations regarding interaction and users, the disadvantage of the more “participatory” internet was that users did not create content and provide personal data to companies that control these platforms. In this sense, the decentralized and blockchain-based versions of web 3.0 applications can create a new perspective in this sense. With the decentralized structure of Web 3.0, the door of uncontrollable networks will be opened. What these apps will bring and take away will be determined over time. However, man’s quest for happiness will never end.