Too much in touch?

Okay, let me get this straight: Americans are sending 4.1 billion text messages a day. This figure is from CNN (10/30/09). It doesn’t include twittering, instant messaging, or phone calls. Prayers are not included, either. We’re at the point when even a phone call takes too much time. I picture the future as a time with no face-to-face relationships; only screens and tiny buttons to push.

I’m teaching a Modern History course right now, and we were discussing our technological age. Students mentioned the Internet and the Web, cell phones and texting, twittering and instant messaging, and the quick access we have to information 24-hours a day. Then there’s Facebook and MySpace, etc.

One woman said, “I get all nervous when my boyfriend doesn’t text me back right away. I feel rejected or like maybe he’s avoiding me.” Apparently her boyfriend is required to stay in touch every nanosecond.

No one’s life is that interesting every second. This applies to great love affairs, too!

Have we gone too far with this connectedness thing? Is it possible to be too much in touch? I call this “the ambiguity of technology.” This means saying yes and no to technology at the same time.

I don’t know where I would be without my cell phone, and yes, sometimes I use it while driving. Bad boy! I like my flat screen HD-TV. I like grading papers electronically rather than using hard copies.

But while technology is wonderful, technology is not so wonderful. Yes and no. Nothing is wonderful when it begins taking charge of our whole lives. Nothing is wonderful when we don’t have time for face-to-face relationships with family and friends. Nothing is wonderful when we don’t have an hour for exercise or quiet time or a moment to just sit.

Nothing is wonderful when ring tones assault us every few moments. I have a colleague at work who has a different ring tone for every person in her life. Every time her cell phone “rings” I want to smash it. She thinks it’s cute.

Many of us, if we are honest, are looking for a place to hide. We’re tired of being “too much in touch.” So the next time you start to send a text message, ask yourself, “Is this really necessary?” Maybe it is, but maybe sending thirty text messages isn’t! --Brad