Are We Becoming a Solo Nation?

Are we becoming a solo society?

Sounds ridiculous and yet I wonder….

For all of the “good” that technology has afforded our modern society, I believe it has contributed to stunting humanity’s social growth. Reflect on the ways in which you engage others in daily communication through the use of technology. I send and receive countless emails at work. Rarely do I pick up the phone unless I need a more immediate response than someone hitting the “Reply” button. I have more exchanges with people via text messaging than actual conversations. My “smartphone” enables me to conduct business for work long after I have shut my office door. It also allows constant contact with social media sites such as Facebook or Twitter.

Has all of this technology really connected us or made us individualized islands on this planet?

Recently I was visiting my best friend from college. We chatted briefly about this very topic as we watched her teenage daughter silently text a classmate while her teenage son interacted with his friends while gaming on the XBox. During our time together as college classmates, the ability that Ruthie and I had to communicate, aside from face to face, was very limited. We were overjoyed the year our dorm rooms were wired for phone service. Gone were the days of waiting in line at the lobby pay phone to call home.

We both hung dry erase message boards on the outside of our dorm doors along with our class schedule. Leaving a board message was the modern day equivalent of sending a text.

“LET’S MEET IN THE STUDENT CENTER FOR LUNCH”

Spending time with our friends meant lots of face to face interactions. Problems were dealt with in real time. Words spoken to others were chosen with greater care; for the ability to hit delete before sending was not an option. The dating realm was much different back then as well. Being asked out or asking someone out required working up the nerve to engage that person in a verbal exchange by phone or in person. Now, a text will suffice as being socially proper. But is it? I wonder…

Modern technology has also made it easier to argue with others. Texting or emailing during a fight means I can delete or edit my response. Additionally, this means that the emotion(s) attached to my words are then open to the interpretation of the reader. Is that wise to do?

Voice inflection, tone, and volume give more “meat” to our words when spoken. Hearing my loved ones say “I love you” means much more than reading it alone can do. Hearing the words melt into my very soul.

As I have reflected on these things of late, I am questioning how I need to consider doing things a bit differently.

Let me leave you with this thought, Reader.

“Human relationships are rich, and they’re messy, and they’re demanding. And we clean them up with technology. Texting, email…we get to edit, and that means we get to delete, and that means we get to retouch…” (Sherry Turkel, Alone Together)

Live well and have some rich, messy, and demanding relationships.