I've heard it so often, it's turned into a clich:
living at Dartmouth is like living in some sort of bubble. We focus so hard on our Hanover lives of classes and sociality that we scarcely notice the so-called "real world." People seem barely aware that Republicans have captured the House, or that the military sent one of its robot planes to shoot up a carload of terrorists, or even of the recent coup attempt in Qatar. I even saw one poster, advertising a current events discussion, which read, "Do you feel so out of the loop that a band of apes could take over the country without you realizing it?"
Some blame Hanover's physical isolation. This town rests in the middle of a forest cradled in a New England valley. The town's size closes our eyes a bit -- why keep them open if there's nothing to see? The campus offers some pretty distractions. People come from all over the country to see leaves and their vibrant oranges and reds and yellows, and our clear moonlit nights give a great view of the stars. One can easily take a look, smile and warmly sigh, then get back to work on that problem set and life as usual.
Some blame the workload. The computer science majors living in Sudikoff rarely get to stop and watch the stars, and midterms inevitably engulf and absorb our attention.
I tempted myself to believe that I could burst this bubble somehow, but as I was discussing Qatar, I began to think that maybe there was no bubble shielding our quaint romantic Dartmouth from the harsh realities without.
Consider. Though we live in the woods, our little clearing is connected to the outside world through a system of copper wires and fiberoptic cables. Home is just a phone call away, and I can find so much information on the Internet, my brain would bleed if I even began to comprehend its immensity. Nicely asphalted highways and the Eisenhower Interstate System ensure that transportation in and out of Hanover remains uninterrupted, and guarantees a constant supply of food, clothing and fuel oil to keep us warm through the winter. They even bring in big city newspapers such as the New York Times and the Boston Globe. Information flows freely over our horizons and between our trees.
Of course, we can easily turn off our radios, or refuse typing cnn.com into our favorite web browser and avoid the unpleasant images they evoke. But I wouldn't call this a "Dartmouth bubble." People do this everywhere -- it doesn't require a hermit's life. Certainly, the stress of midterms and classes in general make that choice easier, and keeping up with the world seems a "special" effort. It is an effort, but not special. No one has the job of tracking people down in their free time and telling them what's happening in the world. We have to actually sit down at our computers, or with some newspapers, and pay attention to them. But this isn't unique to Dartmouth. That's how things work everywhere.
Still, free time is a factor, so how much does our workload keep us from the news? Well, I began to look around as I walked across campus. If you ever stop and look at a bulletin board, you'll see posters for speeches on biological weapons, the welfare state, American foreign policy and workshops designed to "break down racial boundaries." Groups like Agora are designed specifically to discuss matters of public policy. Editorials constantly discuss Iraq, Israel and the loss of our economic boom. Every 20 steps or so, I had to fend off some enthused student trying to get me to vote. And I remember a candlelight vigil on the Green against the war on Iraq. My job search continues.
So our isolation in the wilderness doesn't mean anything. Our workload could, but considering how many Dartmouth students are thinking about the real world everyday, it doesn't. So why is there this widespread belief that Dartmouth lives in a bubble? Maybe it's just me, and I've been talking to the wrong people. But posters about revolutionary apes and editorials about picture-perfect isolation convince me that a large number of Dartmouth students hold on to this belief, despite evidence against it.
A bubble isn't any sort of real thing -- it's a state of mind, and only individuals have minds. Thus, isolation from the real world has nothing to do with Dartmouth's distance from civilization or our workload. Instead, it's about our own personal habits and thoughts. If some people can't see their 10-base T ethernet or the continuous rumors of war on the lips of students dining in Thayer, they're probably pretty self-absorbed -- so self-absorbed, in fact, that they don't realize that this bubble of intellectual isolation is their own problem, and blame it on Dartmouth as a whole. But Dartmouth has been engaging with the real world the entire time. If anyone wants to break out of this bubble, they need only to open their eyes, and start looking both ways before crossing the street.
