Vicarious Connection

Often at work, I stop and think: people were not made to live under florescent lights. People were not made to live separated from nature. But how often do we drift to these as a default setting from day to day.

People were not made to live disconnected from each other. People sometimes walk past me and I smile and say hello and sometimes they don’t even acknowledge me. And then some people will stop and share intimate details of their life because they are hungry for some connection.

How much of our lives are spent plugged into technology. In the past five minutes, I’ve received a facebook notification, an email and a text message. By the end of the day, I will use my laptop, my ipod, my tv, maybe even my kindle and tablet.

           

It’s scary but I understand why people don’t say hello, because sometimes I don’t want to interact with others either. Sometimes it is easier and safer to hide from people behind my technology.

There is so much potential in my little phone. What would Napoleon or Washington have done with my smart phone? What would Socrates have downloaded and read on my kindle? And would technology have helped them to become great men or not?

I wonder about what I missed through text messages? I don’t know the tone of the person I’m talking to, the facial expressions, sarcasm. And how deep can a conversation go through text message.

We desire connection. We desire to be connected to the people around us. While technology is a good thing, I sometimes think it can be a hindrance to developing humans.

Perhaps, we need to utilize technology to help us connect with people but not depend on it to carry us through from text to status. From looking into someone’s eyes or hearing them laugh in front of you, people are unique and deserve your complete attention.