At the end of our "Happiness" discussion, it was noted that digital communication tends to be impersonal and the sound of another's voice as well as face-to-face communication was essential to "Connecting With Others". How true is this?
"Face-to-Face" communication and even interactive voice communication is becoming less and less common as we relate to one another digitally and virtually. Our communication options are now many. In 1970, the futurist Alvin Toffler wrote a book titled "Future Shock". Future Shock, he explained, is a bewildering and disorienting psychological state produced in individuals and in whole societies due to the impacts of technological change coming fast in short periods of time combined with the difficulty and necessity to keep up with the change not to mention information overload. Most of us are immersed in technology all the time at work and play.
As a basis for discussion, we watched the Frontline presentation "Digital Nation". Here is a summary:
The show opened with a mother of three speaking into the camera. She was preparing supper for her family and observed them at the table - father with laptop, oldest child with laptop, and two smaller ones with handheld entertainment devices. Each person was fully engaged and involved in their own separate world. She wondered aloud about her family's cohesiveness.
The scene shifts to MIT with students using computers and smart phones continuously to multi-task. Teachers offer comments about how challenging it is and how they have had to change their teaching style to accommodate students who pay only partial attention to what they are in class to learn. One professor states his pop quizzes reveal his students are getting grades of 75% on material they should easily get 100% on. He says they are constantly distracted. Another quick scene shift takes us to Stanford University where researchers are evaluating multitasks. Their conclusion is that students are very poor at every aspect of multi-tasking regardless of what the individual multitasker may think of their proficiency. The constant distraction results in a disorganized memory and poor analytic reasoning. The researchers worry we are creating people who are unable to think well and clearly.
The workplace is rewarding those who are fluent in technology, excellent at communications, and effective problem solvers. These will be and are the high earners. Those with lesser skills will simply earn less and have a lower standard of living. The show moves to a NYC middle school where technology is completely integrated into the teaching methods. Performance at this school has improved dramatically since the introduction of technology. The students are simply more engaged in the overall learning process and readily accept the challenges the technology presents. The principal remarks that technology is akin to oxygen for the students.
There is controversy here. Prof. Mark Bauerlein of Emory University wrote a book titled "The Dumbest Generation". He contends that as students get older and engage in more and more technological multi-tasking their reading and writing skills deteriorate. Others contend that the old ways of expressing ourselves, as measured by the old ways, are evolving into something else - a different way of communicating. Print replaced an oral culture and the book developed. The book will give way to the next thing. It's simply evolution.
The program moved on to virtual connections people can make through gaming and offered World of Warcraft as an example. In this game, folks can live virtually with others and have a unique, rich, rewarding, and addictive experience. Living virtually is not limited to gaming. IBM uses it for business meetings and work groups. Researchers have found that virtual living produces the same emotional responses as real life and that young children will believe, after a short lapse of time, their virtual experiences were real.
The American Military has taken this concept a step further and put a Drone Aircraft into the field with the Pilot remotely located in the USA. They have also established Recruiting Centers featuring War Gaming for potential Recruits to use to get a sense of battle.
Technology is changing us. We are losing some things and gaining others. How we will change is up to us and the values we have as humans.
