Technology--Empathy---Robots

I am sick of getting emails from robots. I feel like, back in the day, people used to email each other because it was a quick way to get a personal message from one body to another. Now a-days, it’s always robots trying to solicit you, or, if you’re lucky, it’s a business email. I find myself leaping at the chance to open up an email that is from an actual warm-bodied human being...Even if the topic may be unpleasant. I am so happy to find that another person took the time to write to me, even if it’s just about a business matter. If a person actually just writes me to say hello or tell me they care, it’s a bonanza in my house. It makes my heart more warm than you can imagine--I get so excited!

On another tangent, I feel like the amount of technology we have is ironically getting to a point where it’s debilitating, rather than helpful. I feel it is taking away the one real advantage human beings have over other animals which is empathy. You see, everything is just too easy. There aren’t enough consequences on a personal, human level. People can just say whatever they want to withouth looking the person they’ve just injured in the eyes.  You always don’t have to spend as much time laboring over how to say something to someone or what to do because you can just text them. It has the potential to turn people (especially young kids) into low-level sociopaths, if we’re not careful.

We also use these technology as a crutch. There have been many times where I have chosen to watch Netflix, text or peruse social media over dealing with how I actually felt, because, well, it made me feel better than sitting and dealing with myself. Techonology has made it supremely easy to pretend like everything is going great when really you’re crumbling. It has allowed us to focus on only select part of ourselves without really getting into the gritty stuff. Unfortunately, unless we allow ourselves to feel and acknowledge the unpleasant aspects of our lives, we cannot grow.

Technology has made it easier to deceive everyone, most importantly (and detrimentally), ourselves. I think I have a real compulsion to delve into the technology world whenever I start to feel unpleasant/uncomfortable feelings. Honestly, at this point grabbing your phone is the modern day equivalent of drinking-it lowers your inhibitions, it makes you feel “cool” and like you belong. Much like alcohol, it is simply a temporary solution to a much bigger problem that has the potential to be solved, if you just put down the phone and look at yourself.. I am challenging myself to do this, will you do it too? I hope so. Let’s bring back caring about people (including ourselves) more than machines.

Love,

Lo