Conversation Luddite
It is funny that despite being a technical guy that likes technical things like computer games and surfing the internet, I actually don't like it sometimes.
Sure it is great having a source of entertainment so close and so easy. But that might be part of the problem. It is so easy that, comparatively, working out meeting times and getting people together to just hang out is hard. And even then, the path of least resistance is for everyone to talk for a bit and then break off and do their own things like watch TV or play video games or check their email and so forth. Simple small talk just can't compete against them.
Sometimes it is hard to find people to talk to for this reason. Everyone is always somewhere else, doing things that are more important than idle talk. And since everyone does this, we all get used to entertaining ourselves and thus talking to other people becomes even less relevant since we adapted to getting by without it. Sometimes online chatting is just a convenience thing. People are online not to talk to you but to check their email or comic pages or whatever. The talking to you part is a second priority since when they are done with the other things, the conversation with you immediately ends.
Some of the best conversations I've had were when there was no other option. Everyone was stuck around on the beach at nighttime or in a car going somewhere. People are forced to talk. And when that happens, you are surprised they even had that much to say.
Of course, we'll never get to the point of Wall-E where we all stare at the screen and are too fat to get out of our chairs, but it sometimes feels that talking has taken a last priority seat to a lot of what we do.
I can say that I do NOT want our technology reversed in any way. The benefits are simply too high to give up and ironically it fuels a lot of what I talk about anyway. But it would be nice to be able to just sit down and listen and contribute something profound.
Sure it is great having a source of entertainment so close and so easy. But that might be part of the problem. It is so easy that, comparatively, working out meeting times and getting people together to just hang out is hard. And even then, the path of least resistance is for everyone to talk for a bit and then break off and do their own things like watch TV or play video games or check their email and so forth. Simple small talk just can't compete against them.
Sometimes it is hard to find people to talk to for this reason. Everyone is always somewhere else, doing things that are more important than idle talk. And since everyone does this, we all get used to entertaining ourselves and thus talking to other people becomes even less relevant since we adapted to getting by without it. Sometimes online chatting is just a convenience thing. People are online not to talk to you but to check their email or comic pages or whatever. The talking to you part is a second priority since when they are done with the other things, the conversation with you immediately ends.
Some of the best conversations I've had were when there was no other option. Everyone was stuck around on the beach at nighttime or in a car going somewhere. People are forced to talk. And when that happens, you are surprised they even had that much to say.
Of course, we'll never get to the point of Wall-E where we all stare at the screen and are too fat to get out of our chairs, but it sometimes feels that talking has taken a last priority seat to a lot of what we do.
I can say that I do NOT want our technology reversed in any way. The benefits are simply too high to give up and ironically it fuels a lot of what I talk about anyway. But it would be nice to be able to just sit down and listen and contribute something profound.