[Opinion]
How often do you see or partake in a small gathering, sitting next to others, yet never spoke a word, not even some eye contact, and just stare at the phone, texting away to one another. What I just explained may be one of the most depressing phenomenon that I have ever witnessed.
Ever since the invention of paper, our forms of communication has reached new horizons at a mind boggling pace, especially in the beginning of twenty-first century. Convenience, longevity, ease of replication, you name it, we got a solution for it. Just like everything else, nothing is without a price. Text allows us to converse ideas, easily revisited without distortion, and will last practically forever in countless formats as long as the medium material exists. Here’s the catch, text cannot express the tone behind the thought, facial expressions, body motions, cultural references, even when carefully elaborated, it is impossible to retain it’s authenticity. In a sense, written words may be one of the worst form of communication.
Audio conversation, such as phone calls, solves one of the problems, but are still lacking. Pictures may capture a moment of time, but it’s ultimately a singular, static and framed perspective. Fortunately, video media came to the rescue. It’s a vast improvement compare to the previous options, though it’s not without flaws. A video conference for example, is limited to the camera angle of the video, visual and audio feedback. Your other perceptions are still deprived of connection.
The ultimate way for human beings to converse is still face to face. The immediate and simultaneous stimulation of all our senses are irreplaceable.
My conclusion, converse in close proximity whenever possible. The unadulterated sound vibrations, genuine facial responses, body motions, and touch, even if it’s just a hand shake, makes each interaction a priceless experience. Refrain from sniffing and licking random people though, I believe it’s a exclusively consensual transaction. Or maybe I’ve been doing it wrong, what do you think? Let me know in the comments!
Totally agree. My wife and I were finding ourselves (mostly me), texting while eating and not giving each other attention. It was causing friction and we came up with a simple but effective rule of no phones at the dinner table. It has tremendously improved our conversations. That sense of “unplugging” frees up your mind and attention span to engage in the best quality of communication: face to face.
I have seen younger family struggle with communication but they are really good at texting. It’s something that I fear will become an issue with society unless it isn’t consciously addressed. Good stuff.
Technology has consistently been a double edge sword throughout human history, especially when the adversary amplifies the negative effects. You and your wife’s rule of no phones at dinner table is a wise strategy. Consciously addressing a problem that has been surreptitiously enthralling our lives is certainly the solution. I’m confident that as long as we live our lives according to God’s will, our society will reverse it’s self destructive course!