Exploring Our Social Connectedness In This Digital Age

I have a distant relationship with my parents due to our turbulent history.  When I interact with them in ‘real life’, I can feel alot of hate and anger build.  It takes a good deal of effort to be civil.  So, I avoid them as much a I can, and I see them only about once a year.

But with texting, I find that I don’t have the upwelling of feelings and I actually can ‘interact’ with them more.  I am long way from making peace with my parents, but I know that texting will be an important role in  the healing process.

I was iced twice by the person receiving calls.  Obviously, you have little or no calls on this topic and no comments.  Plus the person who answered the phone probably cannot relate to an elder’s perspective on the contemporary.  Plus he was rude (a sign of our times and technology).

However, I dealt with this topic via e-mail and social media back in 1995.  Yes, all of these things were happening, in an embryonic stage,  back in those ancient years.

I came up with the term “electronic slavery.”  We dealt with each other in chat rooms, via e-mail, and instant messages.  I wrote a piece pertaining to being engulfed by virtual reality.  The character who spoke my words expressed regret about not seeing nature anymore.  All he became involved with was what was on his screen.  

Now there is better technology and people cannot relate the same way we did with DOS based Windows.  There was a definite line drawn between us and the technology.  Also, we had greater control than today’s black box operating systems. 

 However, we could sense and feel the Internet’s power and potential.  It is now very dangerous thing because of the damage is inflicting on human interaction, communication, and social life. 

Many times have I spoken to someone and they did not respond because they are plugged into their music, tuned into their smart phone, and spaced out of the physical world.  The devastating thing is to encounter these people while crossing the street as they drive towards you.  My greatest frustration is to try communicate vital information to someone who is plugged in and tuned out!

Not enough thought goes into adapting these technologies.  Sure, they are fun, but very dangerous, too.  They threaten the basis of human culture and spirituality.

What happens when the decision making process is relinquished and turned over to our former toys?  

*Tim Leary’s prescription has been filled. 

Jimicyber

Roxbury, MA

* “Tune in, turn on, and drop out.”