Screening Process

Professor J,

When our nifty new gadgets aren't connecting us or helping keep us connected they divide and often conquer. I'm on the verge of purchasing some iPod Earbuds just so I can wear them around and look blankly at people who speak to me, take one out, and mutter..."huh?" Does anyone realize how rude that is? Manners seem to be among the earliest casualties of technology from where I sit.

I'm beginning to wonder if as a culture we continue to spend more and more time alone in front of flickering screens of one kind or another, we are going to end up incapable of behaving decently toward one another and lose any sense of the little niceties and unwritten rules that are tacitly written into our various social interactions. The human connections that you so rightly point out that we crave can never be completely fulfilled without face to face interaction. No matter how eloquent the words on a flickering screen, what can replace the joy of hearing the sound of a friend's laughter or seeing the gleam of understanding and connection in some one's eye?  There is always good and bad in everything and our new challenges/blessings are no exception.

I am at this very moment sitting in the home of a friend I keep up with regularly on Facebook. This week however, it has been such a joy to SEE the person I'm sharing with and TALK/LISTEN. Although the frequency and volume of our combined laughter and incessant storytelling may not be appreciated by those within earshot, it is to us, practically medicinal.

I am also fortunate to get to browse her vast library, eat her amazing cooking, and share delicious wine and espresso with her. You can't reproduce any of THAT sitting at a computer screen.

That is INDEED the shortest answer ever to appear on this blog from you! I hope you are not ill.

Did you ever read the book Scroogenomics I recommended to you? The thought of having to do Christmas shopping has me remembering how much I liked it and how much sense it made. :)