Communication

Despite all the tools of modern communication, meaningful communication between people is still difficult to achieve. It requires practice and skill. We live in clouds of details and opinions about people from Facebook and Twitter. How much time do we spend looking into eyes and conversing? I do not mean having a meeting or a group club night. I mean actually conversing personally and intimately about our lives.

The alienation which accompanies mass communication devices is stunning. The alienated individual on an urban subway looks up sleepily from a tiny LCD screen after madly thumbing it with active facial expression. He has nothing to give to his fellow riders, but is highly invested in the people remotely connected to him through his electronics. When asked information by a stranger, many look immediately down at their smart phone in response. Rather than engaging with the stranger on human terms, the device becomes the focus, a buffer in human communication.

I am not a Luddite by any means. I had a Web domain back when many of my friends were struggling to master Windows95. I use a cell phone as a convenience when I need to call someone away from home. However, I am not about to substitute texting in my life for the sound of a human voice and eye contact across a table. The feel of smooth plastic is a poor substitute for the warmth of human touch. The filtered human voice over a phone is no substitute for a whispered endearment while being hugged.