Real Connections in a Busy World
How many new people have you met recently? Are you actively looking to meet new people face to face? How often do you genuinely connect with someone that shares your interests, passions, or desires?
While our ability to connect with others in the digital age has increased exponentially, I believe that our ability to form genuine, long lasting relationships has deteriorated tremendously. I am not the only one that thinks this way. In an article posted on Psychology Today, Dr. Shoba Sreenivasan and Dr. Linda E. Weinberger argued that:
"While the digital age imbues our life with instantaneous and wide-ranging connectivity, it also creates pseudo-connectivity, where “friends” may number in the “thousands;” yet, there may not be a single living, breathing person with whom there is a true emotional connection."
Interestingly, this phenomenon is not unique to our time. Sociologists noticed similar patterns of behavior when television became mainstream in the late 50's. Families were more likely to be found sitting together watching a television show that depicted a family interacting and disclosing intimate details about their experiences rather than actually participating in such behaviors with their own family members. This lead to a growing sense of detachment from others, and a psychological emptiness, that can have drastic long-term effects.
Researchers are concerned that as digital communication becomes the predominant way of interacting with others we may lose the ability to "read" subtle facial expressions, or recognize psychological boundaries, rendering face to face communications alien or uncomfortable, and therefore avoided.
As new technologies expand our reach and increase our ability to connect, they will also bring us farther apart. It is up to each of us individually to re-humanize these interactions and recognize the truth that there is another real human being on the other side of that screen.
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About The Author
Maxwell Masters specializes in helping collision repair business grow and scale their business through the Fix Auto Platform. He is passionate about saving California and supports the 10X Movement. Maxwell also works with high school and college students to imbue them with the D.R.E.A.M. Mindset™ and help them find success in their future careers.