Has technology thwarthed communication?

Kell

I will try not to rant but...............

That board PI's always gets me thinking whether the advent of text messages, these forums and such like, e-mail etc, is causing the human species to lose its ability to communicate properly in face to face conversation?

Day after day PI's is bombarded with people saying "you should e-mail her this or text her that". I am confused as to why the fúck people dont just use their voice and fúcking say whats on their mind.

Anyways, to tail off, I am beginning to wonder if the increased use of texts, forums and e-mails are going to actually have a negative impact in peoples communications skills?

Case in point- room with five people in it. Three are texting eachother rather than talking. No- I am not kidding either.

Anyone any thoughts?

K-

Sleepy

Think back to what you know of the past. People used to be far more repressed than they are now, hiding behind facades of "normality". Sure, a lot of people still do this, but at the same time there are a lot more people prepared to say what they think now than there used to be. Texts allow us to say things to people that we wouldn't say to their faces which can be a good thing.

Message boards and the likes also allow some of us to let out the more extreme sides of our personalities. I know I use this opportunity regularly on-line here, venting about political or social issues that concern me but would bore my friends to death...

Fysh

Yep, that damn technology must be to blame.

Have you noticed that you're posting this on an internet message board, using a computer? Yes? Oh, good.

Onto a rather less sarcastic answer. No, I don't think technology is to "blame", because it's not sentient or intelligent enough to be given the blame. Technology gives us tools to communicate with. If people decide, for whatever reason, that they either can't or won't communicate, then that's their decision. If someone was too chickensh*t to break up face to facewith a partner they weren't attracted to years ago, they might write them a note, or start cheating on them and end up getting caught. These days, they might write them an email, a note, send them a text, start cheating on them and get caught, send a photo of them cheating to the other half via cameraphone, start a website with videos of themselves cheating on the other half...the list goes on. The problem is still the same - person A doesn't have the courage to speak to person B about their feelings face to face. You could remove every piece of technology from the planet, and it wouldn't change that situation.

On a separate note, what is it with the regressive/conservative-style posts on Humanities lately? We've got "Political Correctness gone mad", "Trim The herd (ie revert to caveman-style life)", and this. What next?

OY

Fysh wrote:

What next?

Drive by shootings in the night!

Hey Fysh your rather less sarcastic answer still had a lot of sarcasm in it IMO! I can kind of see what Kell is getting at.

Another case in point... a while back I remember reading that the British Government were getting very concerned over the overuse of 'text words'. Students taking exams were using truncated words and the like.

I think that Kell is just pointing out some of the social aspects that are negative and that are as a direct result of technology. Should we scrap it and go back to living in caves? No. Should we all read and talk to eachother a little more? Yes, yes we should!

pretty-in-pink

Well speaking from my point of view(and yes I am aware I've been a tad....crazy...about this in other posts)or at least my new point of view, technology is all well and good, it's the overuse of it in favour of human contact. An e-mail can't hug you, a text can't kiss you, and a message on something like boards can't touch you.

I don't see why we should stop technology, but perhaps an investigation into how and why we use it as we do could help?

Anyway, it’s neither the root of all evil or the root of our problems, but the people pushing it into every hemisphere of life- now that is a major contributory factor to the problem. The problem of course being mainly what’s in us, ourselves.

Shabadu

@{@ naughty_girl

imo we use technology to communicate because of the speed, particularly over long distances. Humans have very little patience.}

We are insatiable for information. It is part of our inquisitive natures. technology has helped us signifigantly in the transfer of info.

Instant communication is now taken for granted.

While this has led to obvious benefits, there have possibly been some drawbacks when it comes to face-to-face communication.

I think in moderation there are very few detriments, but I have noticed that some people (who were possibly naturally introverted anyway), seem to be more withdrawn the less they communicate face-to-face, and the more they rely on computers for their interaction.

As I said, they could just be naturally introverted anyway, it would take a very long-term comprehensive study to confirm or deny it.

I feel I have to make a point of asking my partner to make eye contact with me after he's been sitting at a computer all day, whereas at the weekends I feel he is more attentive. That's probably just because the poor thing is shattered from work though.