Distraction – it’s a national epidemic.

Technology advances have resulted in our collective obsession with the devices that connect us to places both near and far. As a result we pay less attention to other things, important things such as work, school, driving, walking, and our time with each other. Every place you go you can see evidence of this epidemic. It is an epidemic that now spans all generations and demographics.

I find myself becoming increasingly bitter about this epidemic, even as I acknowledge my own infection. I would like to believe that I manage my own distraction better than most. I do not use my technology when I am walking or driving – I am acutely aware of how quickly that behavior could result in serious injury or death. I try to be alert of my surroundings and pay attention to what is going on.  I try and be aware of opportunities to engage with the universe. I am okay with using my senses to take in and engage with what is around me.  I do not need technology as much as I need real life interaction with people.

Unfortunately, most people are otherwise engaged with their technology and appear uninterested in engaging manually with the world. I think this is a shame. I think our technology-driven distraction has started to damage our individual and collective humanity. Even as we seem infinitely more connected, we seem to be less engaged with face-to-face interaction.

Many studies have been done on what technology does to the brain and the ways in which it affects social interaction (and it is in many ways troubling – read iBrain). The ways in which we are using technology and the extent to which we use it have become all-consuming. All things seem to be gravitating toward having a technology interface. There appears to be an App for everything. But is that enough for us as human beings at the end of the day?

I think society is faced with a dilemma, either dial back distraction or begin to embrace the notion that technology will be driving our behavior from here forward. I choose to dial back distraction and to connect instead to the people and places around me. At the end of my time on this earth, I want to be able to look back and know that I was present in my life and I want others to know that as well. Life is short – take the time to really connect without the help of WiFi.

Another day in the new forty – obla di obla da

Ms. C