Technology is what guides us through life every day. We can’t go 5 blocks without our GPS, Internet service is equal to if not more important than running water and if we don’t have the ability to record 6 shows a night on each of our 1,500 cable channels well we might go all Kim Jong Il on somebody. There is no doubt that this wave of technological achievement has advanced our society in many ways. The real question though may be at what cost to our values, our humanity and our ability to interact with each other.
The mp3 player, the text message, the tip calculator, the video stream… oh sorry I was just listing everything that makes a good cell phone these days. I guess it can even be helpful if a phone call can be made from one of these devices right out of Star Wars. Funny how the last thing we seem to use our phone for these days is to talk to someone. Have we lost touch with reality to the point that we can’t even stand to spend 5 minutes talking about important issues and problems? Instead our lives take a T9 approach of quickness over clarity, abbreviations over communication and sentences over sentiment.
The emotions have been removed from human interaction by using text, pictures and symbols to express feelings. Maybe it is no wonder that people can misinterpret each other and get into arguments so easily. Our society has become so involved with instant gratification that we have not been forced to work things through on our own. People give up so quickly on jobs, relationships and anything else that may be difficult to accomplish. We want our answers now, thank you very much Google. We even date online so it is easier to dismiss those that don’t measure up, less we forget it is also easier to be dismissed for not having a perfect 1 x 1 photo and a work of Shakespeare for a descriptive paragraph. Not sure many people know who they are these days. They are what they type or photoshop themselves to be.
We all have things to offer those we come in contact with. We have experiences, varied in nature, that we can draw on and share with people. People like us who also have things to offer. In all the technology we have lost the ability to listen. Sure we hear people, but we don’t listen to the tone of voice and the pain or joy their words carry. We don’t see the pride on their faces when they have reached the top of the mountain, or the tears stream like the Mighty Mississippi when disaster has taken their children, house and memories.
Technology is supposed to make communication easier and open doors for us all across the world. Those doors can lead from continent to continent and can cross culture and language. I hope for the sake of all of us we continue to open these doors by using our own personal communications and not rely on technology to open them for us. It may just be we open a door to find a wall instead. — Middy
