By Brandon Pierce
Albert Einstein famously said, “I fear the day that technology will surpass our human interaction. The world will have generations of idiots.” It seems that the time he was referring to is upon us. Now more than ever, most communication is done via technology rather than through direct human interaction.
Businesses mainly use email, marketers use social media at a much higher rate and society prefers text messages or Twitter posts over a phone call. The ability to communicate openly and face to face has shifted from an enjoyable experience to a hassle, and in some cases a fear.
Nowadays, restaurants could cut off all of the lights knowing that the illumination of cell phone screens would light up the entire place. Steven Pinker, professor and director of the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), predicted that by the year 2050 computers and machines will become “conscious” and able to develop their own decision-making skills. In turn, they would function faster than humanly possible.
This theory may seem far-fetched in 2014, but as our dependence on technology to communicate increases, so too will the medium we use to communicate.
I pose a suggestion to all readers of this article: type less and talk more. Go to dinner and make a realistic attempt to not use any form of social media. Use your time to enjoy the company of others in person, rather than spending hours surfing the social media sites of today and creeping on your ex. Make a phone call once in awhile. Sure, we all hate talking on the phone, but texting becomes stale and meaningless.
This is obvious by the fact that grown men have stooped to the level of using the “winky face” emoji. Come on guys – keep your dignity or throw your man card in the trash. Give grandma a call and make her day. The argument that “texting is so much easier” is outdated and overused. Let us all just stick it to the man. Sadly enough though, it seems the man has now become technology.
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