The Dysfunction Of Technology

Technology has brought us many great things but at the expense of alienating our family and relationship with friends.

We think we have meaningful conversation but they are more and more becoming texts, online comments and emails.

Dysfunction in the younger generation

In the 80’s and 90’s our schools started a program making sure kids felt important. When awards were given out everyone got something even if it was a piece of paper because she had the most freckles or skipped rope the most times in a row.

That seemed like a good idea to build up children’s self esteem but I think it was a precursor to the young adults today that are so afraid of rejection they would rather have mechanical friends than real people.

I wonder too if it is why we have more and more children committing suicide from bullies. You never heard about such things in the 70’s and yes we had mean kids that picked on others. When you are used to ridicule and people not liking you I think you develop a thick skin.

Disclaimer:

I'm not condoning bullying or allowing a child to be bullied I'm simply making an observation.

People would rather text or email

When I type, I can edit, when I edit no one sees the real me.

This is the general consensus of young adults and even some older people today.

At parties, over at a friend’s house or at the mall, they are never without their phones and they are not paying attention to each other. They are texting, tweeting and surfing the Internet. What is really strange is sometimes they are texting the person sitting right next to them. I’m not talking about a boring lecture or church where they have to be quiet, I’m talking about on the couch at home.

Without having one on one conversation with each other we never truly get to know that person. We are all flawed unique individuals but if we only see the edited version we are missing the whole picture. People are boring; we get angry and we say things we shouldn’t but it’s all part of each of us as humans.

Technology is the current drug of choice

Just as habit forming as cigarettes or alcohol, people can’t seem to live without their cell phones and social media. If a person leaves the house without their phone, they’ll panic and drive ten miles back home to retrieve it.

A few decades a go we didn’t even have cell phones but now days we can’t be found without our smart phone attached to our hands.

Build a friend or lover

It gets worse… now not only are we not really communicating with each other but we are creating robots that can fulfill our wishes instead of risking denial or rejection from our peers.

We are so afraid of conflict and having to talk to someone face to face that we are making artificial people to take the place of a lover or a friend.

If you don’t believe me look on YouTube at the men with Real Dolls. He can have one built to his personal specifications from hair color, ethnicity, specific body parts and height. Some of you women are creeped out while some of you guys are reaching for your credit cards.

Those willing to spend quite a bit more can get a robot that can talk, nod her head in agreement and even do simple household chores. What more could a man want? Perhaps a warm body?

We are lonely but we are afraid of intimacy.

Artificial love is a poor substitute

We are reaching out to cyber space and fake people to fulfill our needs instead of talking to those in the same room with us. Video games with avatars acting out our fantasies replace real life. We can be anyone we want without the work.

No amount of chatting online is an acceptable replacement for human contact.

There is this desire to be heard at all times, to feel important. When we text or tweet online we have put our voice out into the universe for many to hear. It’s a sense of belonging but no real connection.

How can we change?

Here at my house we sit down at the dining room table together to have meals and my kids aren’t allowed to bring their smart phones with them. I know, that’s so 1950’s but it’s what we do; we learn about each other and we actually talk.

There is nothing wrong with smart phones or the Internet but when you are connected all of the time you miss out on important conversations with your family and friends. You need to communicate in person to learn this skill.