Are we training people to be incapable?

Seriously, are we trying to incapacitate and destroy people’s lives?

I am sure you are saying; ‘How dramatic can you be Gibney?’ All that I ask is that you read to the end of this short commentary about what I am seeing in the world.

First of all, I must state that I got my first computer in 1985. While I have never been the most technical person, I know that computers do make our lives a lot easier. My enjoyment of computers prompted me to buy a CAD system (that is Computer Aided Design) for one of the businesses I owned many years ago. But my biggest concern is social media and the way some people have become addicted at worst too dependent on the least to their social connections in the world, and this is causing them irreparable damage.

Let me give you a few examples. You are in a restaurant with a special person in your life. You are enjoying the conversation, then you glance at another table and you see that the couple there are both looking at their cell-phones and not one word is being spoken between them. As the evening and the meal progresses, you look over and the only difference is that they have moved their cellphone to the side to make room for their meal. But they are still looking at the screen on their cellphone. They have missed a fabulous opportunity to go deeper in a relationship. They’ve missed the opportunity to ask deeper questions and listen to the answers, sadly.

The other example is you are walking down the street, and you are dodging people who are looking at their cellphones, not looking at where they are walking. The next thing you notice is that a young woman at the corner of the street has walked into a truck who was turning at the corner. You stop to try to give help, but sadly you can see that her life is coming to an end.

The next thing you know is that a group of young people have formed an angry mob, and are swearing at the truck driver, saying that he was at fault. You know that they are wrong as you saw what happened and he is very innocent, but the actions of this young girl will cause the driver numerous sleepless nights.

Before I conclude and want to go back to my first example. What has happened to face to face conversations? Have we forgot that people connections are the essentials to growing and learning? Have we forgot that social media is not essential in our world?

My final thought is a question; what can you do today to become more resilient to the urges you have to be on your cellphone constantly?