Everyone’s Talking

At the gym or on the street, in Cafe’s or restaurants or concerts, libraries or churches, its simply beyond belief how pervasive the use of the mobile phone is. It has become the indispensable accessory for business, personal use, entertainment, banking, or information. Not only does one have a vast repertoire of social media, music, photographs, videos, books, movies, it can connect you with anyone anywhere on the planet, at least potentially. There is literally nothing this incredibly complex computer cannot do. Except in my opinion, one thing. It cannot connect you to another person. It gives the simulacra of intimacy. it can entertain, inform, distract, amuse, give deep feelings, enrage, calm. in the end, once you are away from your phone, I think the true level of loneliness emerges. Never before in history have people have been so truly siloed off from one another. Never before have we been so close to one another without being so far from one another. Actually I am about to head in to an online meeting. We will discuss, strategize, laugh at each others jokes, be amused or intrigued by many original ideas that we will share with each other. we will see each other. Hear each other. But we can never be with each other. Not really. Contact is personal. Real connection can only happen with physical presence. I haven’t mentioned how everything you do say or connect to is recorded and stored forever. An then there’s the whole advent of AI….