We are Wired

I love internet, I love those new technologies, email, peer to peer… So great, we are connected all the time, no matter the distance, day or night, cell phone, laptop, computer… You can reach and be reached all the time, isn’t it wonderful…?? Well I am not so sure anymore.

This is the first time of my life I have experienced tipping my lesson on my computer which means having my computer with me in class, but also during the breaks… First, you think it’s cool, you follow the flow of the teacher, you can write your mail, check facebook now and then and the geeks can even play flash games… But then you realize that everybody is talking to somebody except the people around them… It seems we are not able to communicate if we don’t have a screen in front of our face…

No Escape mod

And it seems to be like that everywhere… Uni, Bars, Work, Home… We can’t deny it WE ARE WIRED!!! And it might not be such a good thing. I mean, when you are miles apart, it’s great… But when two people are in the same room, tipping on their own computer… I think it’s rather sad… I even saw some girl-friends walking down the street together, probably shopping; each of them had her mp3 on… Aren’t you supposed to meet your friend to talk to them… share…? Communicate, just be human…?

Have we become afraid of true contact, and consequently lost our spontaneity???
Have our screens become more interesting than other human being… If it is so, then it’s not only sad but dangerous. Because it means that we are becoming more and more individualistic and way too self-centered. Plus, you can’t have a real conversation with someone through a chat or e-mail, cause you get the chance to think ahead before writing, erase and start again or simply fake a disjunction…

So in the end it’s not a real reaction, we calculate, we ponder our words, we can prepare think through it, things you don’t have time to do when you’re in front of the person, in live action. Plus we miss out on expression, the tone of the voice, which is really important. This lack of information can lead to misunderstandings.

what is really sad is…

But that is one thing. I guess, what makes me really…, well, sad I guess, is the disconnection you’ve got between people who are standing right next to each other. With laptop, wifi, I-phones, we can spend our time on the net, and you can end up in a bar with some friends not talking because everyone is on his own little computer… Basically we can be surrounded and be totally alone…

And the worse thing is, it is a vicious circle. Because when you get too lonely, sick and tired of being the only moron in the room who has nothing to do because you’re the only one without a computer, well, you surrender and bring your own… Thing is, I have come to realized, for I have experienced it myself, that you can’t bridle a wild horse… And soon, very soon even, craving for human contact you’ll just get board of you computer having the impression your eyes are starting to melt into this treacherous screen. You end up dazed by it, not really looking at it, kinda blurred by your own thought, you just have to be patient, wait for the end of the day when you’ll finally go to sleep, close your eyes, rest and dream.