At the end of the day, George is spot on.
How is it we are now more “connected”, but less in-tune with one another?
How is it we have less time, but we find ourselves consumed with filling every minute?
How is it we say we look forward to “time away”, yet refuse to take the time to actually get away? And when we are “away”, are we truly unplugged and off-the-grid?
As I see it, we are all running amok…most of us hurrying through the day, heads down, eyes on some sort of technological toy/tool/thingamajigger under the guise of “staying connected.” When we do have a conversation, it centers on something we read, watched, or heard via an electronic device. We’ve lost our ability to socialize.
I’m as guilty as any. More nights than not, my family eats together, but in front of the television. I hesitate before reprimanding someone to put their phone/ipad/ipod away during dinner. Too many evenings are spent with bodies strewn across the furniture, eyes fixated on a small screen with little-to-no interaction.
Our current state of technological advancement has even led to words, whose definition had always been universally understood, now taking on a new and detached meaning. Take the word 'LIKE' for instance. 'Like' means to be fond of, to enjoy, to admire, to have a passion for. The word presumes a level of intimacy and devotion.
Now, the word ‘LIKE’ means to show approval, agree with a concept, endorse a comment or photograph, in social media. One neither needs to know the person responsible for said comment, nor have any strong conviction regarding the concept. It’s simply an acknowledgment. No commitment required. I’d argue this movement has diminished the original meaning of the word and created a false sense of purpose.
The exact same line of reasoning applies to the word ‘FRIEND’. A true ‘friend’ is someone you know on a personal level. Even if the friendship is long-distance in nature, you communicate, share, relate to one another; forming a mutual relationship involving trust, respect, and honor. True friends are treasured companions on this life journey and to have a handful of these folks along for the ride is a real blessing.
A ‘FRIEND’ today is counted in the number of ‘followers’ that appears on one’s homepage of Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. While a few of those qualify as actual friends, most are barely acquaintances and some are complete strangers. My son has fallen for this falsified notion of friendship. While telling me stories of his various ‘friends’, there are times he can’t tell me any of their names! How can you be friends with someone when you don’t know their most basic information??!! Even scarier, he’s liable to recall this ‘friend’s’ user name or game name, rather than his real name. UGH.
What about reality vs. real life? I’ve had the (privilege??!!) of living through the birth of ‘Reality Television’. Maybe I’m being naïve, but I think in the beginning, it was pretty close to capturing “real-life”, at least in some instances. But now, it’s so scripted and hokey, it might as well be labeled “imaginary”, “fictional”, or simply “entertainment”. Let’s call it what it is. And it certainly is NOT real-life. It resembles some form of exaggerated voyeurism where mundane daily tasks are embellished in order to capture and maintain our interest.
We hide behind our screens and pseudo-anonymity, positioning ourselves as experts, authorities, and connoisseurs of all things. Our opinions are stated as facts. Our interpretations are declared as truths. There is no room for debate or compromise because we’ve forgotten how. Worse yet, we are raising a generation (or 2) which never learned how. These kids are expressing themselves through emoji for goodness sake!!
Deep breath…
So what if we start a new kind of revolution? What if we decide to take the world back? What if we go back to basics? What if we start “liking” ourselves enough to not need the superficial compliments streaming through a tech device? What if we know not only our “friends” names, but also their deepest secrets and innermost dreams? What if this becomes our “reality”?
What a wonderful world indeed:)