by Jerome Pinder
Everywhere you go these days from work to church, home to a public venue, even the restroom, you hear the ring or buzz of a cell phone.
In its New Year’s Special, the USA Today had an interesting article entitled “The year we stopped talking.” Click here to see the full story.
No doubt, we have entered an age of electronic communication. The above article indicates that 93% of Americans use cell phones or electronic devices. I am sure there is not much difference in the Bahamas. Seems like everybody has a cell phone, or smart phone that is!
Here are some interesting thoughts that you gain from Sharon Jayson, author of the above-noted article:
- Has the current generation become addicted to tex-ting?
- Have we become disconnected from those immediately around us?
- Are we losing the ability of face-to-face contact?
- Have we lost value in real connections with people and replaced them with electronic connections that are not as meaningful?
- Is it healthy to have our attention divided in so many different ways?
- Who is winning the battle between those around you (ex. immediate family) and those that are electronically connected to you?
- How many people are no longer connected to their physical surroundings?
- What impact does technology have on our family and office life? Positive in many ways, but are we speaking to one another enough?
- Has tex-ting overtaken the dining room table and other related family functions?
- What current and long term effects are we to expect from this loss of physical interaction?
- What affect does this technology have on education? Are kids more interested in their cell phones at school rather than there textbooks?
- And the list goes on……………………
Don’t get me wrong, there are many advantages to technology. For example, it allows us to stay in touch with distant family and friends like never before, or make idle time productive by working while on the go.
However, the argument here is, have we taken it too far? Does working and being in continual contact with a Blackberry have a long term negative impact on us? What impact is the addiction to face book having on our family life? And, is anything private or sacred anymore? Isn’t it interesting or alarming that is, to see how far some people will go in sharing private information on social networking sites?
We are moving around with everybody typing and nobody talking. We are wrecking cars, walking into water fountains, and ignoring those around us, all in the name of instant communication.
The above article is worth the read and highlights arguments for and against the addiction to 24/7 electronic communication. There is one thing I would like to know, will the upcoming generation have the ability to speak face-to-face with one another when they enter the workforce? Perhaps by then, physical communication will be a thing of the past.
What do you think?
