What makes us tick? The answer may very well be connections. People need other people around them; they need to relate to others on so many different levels. Even the tiniest of human beings is essentially dependent on the loving touch of another human. We need other living beings around us, but this need is sometimes overtaken by the fresh sensations offered by technology.
Photo Source: https://blog.valdosta.edu/it/welcome/
Connections: Slipping Away On Lifeless Threads
I was never after the latest model of this or that. I love watching movies but I would never play a video game. It would be a challenge for me to live without the Internet, and yet I am an avid reader of books – of hard copies of books that is. I think I might have achieved a certain balance between having real contact with real people and developing true connections on one hand, and taking advantage of the virtual space offered by technology on the other.
Photo Source: http://www.hurarip.tk/higher-university-information-online-2018/
And yet, on countless occasions when a member of the family was trying to get my attention, my mind was constantly blocking them. It felt as if their voice were a distant, constant grumble, which I only stooped to hear after they were well on their way of being annoyed. I felt angry with myself but at the same time almost powerless to break free from the hold of my computer screen.
Connections: Alive and Breathing
Nothing and no one would be able to replace a loved one that passed away. Nearly every person on this Earth can relate to that. So why would anyone cut off someone they love by connecting with technology instead of cultivating a real, tangible relationship?
Photo Source: http://denielleemans.com/social-change-and-sustainability/relationship-with-technology/
You can feel a person by the look in their eyes, the tone of their voice, their movements and their breathing. You can make someone feel alive just by acknowledging their presence. True, a human may feel just as alive being validated by virtual connections. Nevertheless, if that becomes a way of life, there will have lost a part of themselves. And it will be dead, that desire to give to another human being, because that desire is a need, and not sharing one’s humanity with another is just another type of death.