jordan pulse -

Prof. Dr. Ali Hayasat
In an age where standards have gone askew, the problem isn't attending social gatherings, nor the values of connection that have always been — and remain — one of the most beautiful traits of Jordanian society. The problem lies in how some of these gatherings have turned into platforms for showcasing presence rather than spaces for genuine human connection. We now live in a daily race toward visibility, as if a person's worth is measured by the number of photos they take rather than the impact they leave through their work and community.
What's most troubling is that this culture has begun creeping into groups meant to carry the torch of societal and intellectual progress. Some academics, doctors, lawyers, former officials, and many others now devote more time and attention to their social presence than to their professional one. This isn't simply about wasted time — it's about an opportunity cost that erodes the very nerve of state and society. The hour a doctor steals to snap a photo at a social event is an hour not given to a patient; the hour a university professor wastes chasing banquets is a paper unwritten or a generation unshaped. A society that allows its intellectual energy to be drained into this hollow social race is, inevitably, paying the price of underdevelopment in advance.
What drives these crowds certainly isn't a love of food — it's the fear of absence, a pathological anxiety that one will be forgotten or that their social standing will be erased if they miss a single gathering. It's as if we're in an open auction, not for goods, but for shadow — the bigger your shadow looms in the photo, the smaller the value of what you actually offer outside the frame.
Just as concerning is how this culture has bled into party politics. A political party is not an event hall, and its success isn't measured by attendance numbers or the lavishness of its spreads, but by its ability to generate ideas and offer real solutions. When meetings turn into photo opportunities rather than workshops for brainstorming meaningful outcomes, politics loses its meaning and becomes motion without spirit.
In short, we must come to terms with the fact that true standing isn't found in being seen, but in being needed. Let us quietly resist this culture of appearance, and instill in our children that a legacy is written through effort — not through photo counts or a flood of likes. A society that places the value of presence above the value of production is mortgaging its future for a fleeting moment. Let our ambition rise above our cameras, and let us make Jordan a homeland that celebrates those who build, not those who merely pass through. Photographs fade with time, but achievement remains a witness for generations to come.