Time to Consider - Don't be a Sponge !

[Tanya Warnakulasuriya]

Has anybody seen these pictures in the tube station. The images said nothing more other than to give the website www.timeticonsider.co.uk. I was intrigued. I thought perhaps they were a website encouraging people to consider the more important things in life, like homlessness and war. Sadly no. When I logged onto the website, It showed all the pictures as per the billboards, and then asked people for their comments. How can you comment or make a decision based on on picture ? Is a tank a deterrent or provocotive? Ans: Its neither. Its a peice of arms machinery. I can't tell you how its being used because I don't have enough information. Is the old man pitiful or to be pitied? I don't know enough about his situation to tell you. He could be a happy old man sitting outside his cottage watching the world go by for all I know.....
Yet when I read through the comments on the site I was saddened by how many people had simply made a decision based on one picture. "The old man is homeless and deserves our compassion." , said one comment. "He's a drain on our resources", said another. Did no one think to question more. To say, "I'm sorry I can't make a decision based on one picture". The majority didn't. They asorbed the pictures like sponges and did what they were told to do. When did we stop thinking??????
This is how wars start. How governments make wrong decisions. How racisim and bigotry thrive. Decisions based on nothing, on an incomplete picture. Decisions made without full facts. Decisions made without questioning. The most upsetting thing is that marketing companies (cos I'm assuming that this is what this campaign is about), capitalise on this. They tell us to do something and we do it. Without thinking. We RE-act rather than act.

Please can we take time to consider, to question, to investigate and to get curious about things with an open mind. I beleive if we did more of that we'd live in a much happier world. Your a human being - not a sponge !
Has anybody seen these pictures in the tube station. The images said nothing more other than to give the website www.timeticonsider.co.uk. I was intrigued. I thought perhaps they were a website encouraging people to consider the more important things in life, like homlessness and war. Sadly no. When I logged onto the website, It showed all the pictures as per the billboards, and then asked people for their comments. How can you comment or make a decision based on on picture ? Is a tank a deterrent or provocotive? Ans: Its neither. Its a peice of arms machinery. I can't tell you how its being used because I don't have enough information. Is the old man pitiful or to be pitied? I don't know enough about his situation to tell you. He could be a happy old man sitting outside his cottage watching the world go by for all I know.....
Yet when I read through the comments on the site I was saddened by how many people had simply made a decision based on one picture. "The old man is homeless and deserves our compassion." , said one comment. "He's a drain on our resources", said another. Did no one think to question more. To say, "I'm sorry I can't make a decision based on one picture". The majority didn't. They asorbed the pictures like sponges and did what they were told to do. When did we stop thinking??????
This is how wars start. How governments make wrong decisions. How racisim and bigotry thrive. Decisions based on nothing, on an incomplete picture. Decisions made without full facts. Decisions made without questioning. The most upsetting thing is that marketing companies (cos I'm assuming that this is what this campaign is about), capitalise on this. They tell us to do something and we do it. Without thinking. We RE-act rather than act.

Please can we take time to consider, to question, to investigate and to get curious about things with an open mind. I beleive if we did more of that we'd live in a much happier world. Your a human being - not a sponge !
Has anybody seen these pictures in the tube station. The images said nothing more other than to give the website www.timeticonsider.co.uk. I was intrigued. I thought perhaps they were a website encouraging people to consider the more important things in life, like homlessness and war. Sadly no. When I logged onto the website, It showed all the pictures as per the billboards, and then asked people for their comments. How can you comment or make a decision based on on picture ? Is a tank a deterrent or provocotive? Ans: Its neither. Its a peice of arms machinery. I can't tell you how its being used because I don't have enough information. Is the old man pitiful or to be pitied? I don't know enough about his situation to tell you. He could be a happy old man sitting outside his cottage watching the world go by for all I know.....
Yet when I read through the comments on the site I was saddened by how many people had simply made a decision based on one picture. "The old man is homeless and deserves our compassion." , said one comment. "He's a drain on our resources", said another. Did no one think to question more. To say, "I'm sorry I can't make a decision based on one picture". The majority didn't. They asorbed the pictures like sponges and did what they were told to do. When did we stop thinking??????
This is how wars start. How governments make wrong decisions. How racisim and bigotry thrive. Decisions based on nothing, on an incomplete picture. Decisions made without full facts. Decisions made without questioning. The most upsetting thing is that marketing companies (cos I'm assuming that this is what this campaign is about), capitalise on this. They tell us to do something and we do it. Without thinking. We RE-act rather than act.

Please can we take time to consider, to question, to investigate and to get curious about things with an open mind. I beleive if we did more of that we'd live in a much happier world. Your a human being - not a sponge !