I had a discussion a couple of days ago with a dear friend. We live over 300 miles apart and often communicate via email. But this time, we were actually talking by phone. We were sharing some frustrations and concerns about what modern day technology seems to be doing to our “kids” (and I use that VERY loosely – i.e., from about age 10-30!).
The catalyst to our discussion was what happened to Bill Nye, the Science Guy, who reportedly passed out in front of a bunch of students at USC. Here’s a link to a "Yahoo News" blog that is titled: “If the Science Guy passes out and nobody tweets it, did it happen?”
What was significant was not so much that the poor guy passed out on the way to the podium. Instead what is disturbing is what happened in response (or didn’t happen, depending on your viewpoint!). “It appears that the students in attendance, rather than getting up from their seats to rush to Nye's aid, instead pulled out their mobile devices to post information about Nye's loss of consciousness.”
Hmmm. What does this say about us and our special little communication devices? Have they become more important than human interaction? Some may say that it is human interaction…tweeting or texting. I don’t know that I can give it quite that much credit. I do see some value. There are times when just sending a brief message to my daughter or husband seems to serve a purpose. However, my concern (and that of my friend) is that we are somehow trying to substitute this strange form of communication for good “old-fashioned” real human-to-human interaction (or at minimum voice-to-voice!).
My friend, who often tends to be the cynical one, was making excuses for folks. I, on the other hand, who usually gives folks the benefit of the doubt, declared, “We’ve just gotten lazy!” She wanted to say we are depressed (as a people…as a “society”), maybe lethargic versus lazy. Okay…maybe. Could be.
Some of my favorite words are “c” words – three of my top favorites are: committed, conscious, and conscientious. Maybe when we aren’t filled with the “triple c’s,” we are a bit lazy… or at minimum have become complacent. Neither is good to me, or frankly, acceptable.
We have a whole planet of people and other living things that are dependent on us all being c.c.c’d in order to keep ourselves AND our planet healthy. A lot to ask? Perhaps there’s a bit a reframing required. We seem to be able to take time to research, acquire, and learn to use the latest piece of technology; and yet, we choose not to put the effort into learning how to make positive changes in the world.
Oops, I may be preaching. Sorry. But that’s because of a “p” word I love – passion. I’m passionate about us human beings and passionate about our planet (hmm, another “p” word!). Perhaps, instead of being lost in our self-focused world, as we seem to be so many hours in a day, we could take even a few minutes to shift our focus to others. That could truly make a difference. And in anticipation of the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, let’s check the phones, Blackberries, I-phones, smartphones (whatever!) at the door – or maybe leave them in the back bedroom with your coat! Take a break! If you’re fortunate to be with loved ones, enJOY that time of real good human contact. Soak it up. Maybe you’ll want “second helpings” of that instead of turkey this year.