Is technology isolating us from true human connection?

[AUK 1138]

have you ever pondered on just how isolated every facet of society is from one another, and our subsequent dependence on technology to stay connected and in cooperation with the rest of the world? with a population nearing 7 billion, no one really knows anyone. A very basic observation, I'm aware, but still interesting when you realize this isolation is how it's been since the "creation" (for lack of a better word) of life. it's kind of depressing, really. you can almost extrapolate it to show that in a few hundred years, no one will leave their house. you can sit on your computer and take your daily lessons, talk to peers on social networking sites, learn about relevant news online. it just keeps going. mainly, i just find the fact that the technology we use to bring us closer together is forcing us apart.

discuss.

 

[Evo]

IIRC people had similar concerns over the telephone. Face to face conversations would become a thing of the past. Didn't happen. Telephones just brought people separated by distance closer together.

 

[AUK 1138]

This is true, however i would still argue that a good proportion of talking is now down electronically as opposed to face-to-face conversations. perhaps it's not so much that we don't talk physically anymore, but more so the fact that we can form emotional bonds with people without the need to speak to them. on a fundamental level, having your computer in your room and chatting with them makes it almost like they are in the room with you, making you feel safer talking to them (since you "percieve" them as in the same place as you (your room in this case) where you feel safe). so, it's basically that we have allowed ourselves to interact socially under extremely fabricated conditions. i can't see how you could interpret that as a significant change that will alter things on a long enough timeline.

 

[apeiron]

it's kind of depressing, really. you can almost extrapolate it to show that in a few hundred years, no one will leave their house.

That may not be a valid extrapolation as the oil runs out. A different reading of the future would be...

http://www.transitionnetwork.org/

 

[DanP]

have you ever pondered on just how isolated every facet of society is from one another, and our subsequent dependence on technology to stay connected and in cooperation with the rest of the world? with a population nearing 7 billion, no one really knows anyone. A very basic observation, I'm aware, but still interesting when you realize this isolation is how it's been since the "creation" (for lack of a better word) of life. it's kind of depressing, really. you can almost extrapolate it to show that in a few hundred years, no one will leave their house. you can sit on your computer and take your daily lessons, talk to peers on social networking sites, learn about relevant news online. it just keeps going. mainly, i just find the fact that the technology we use to bring us closer together is forcing us apart.

discuss.

Some ppl have extremely busy social lives. Out in the real world, not on internet. There are serious numbers of humans involved in virtual social networking in detriment of real social life, which is very bad IMO, but the humankind at large is far from being in the state you describe.

 

[AUK 1138]

Some ppl have extremely busy social lives. Out in the real world, not on internet. There are serious numbers of humans involved in virtual social networking in detriment of real social life, which is very bad IMO, but the humankind at large is far from being in the state you describe.

this is probably the nail in my coffin. I failed to realize that many other humans are much more social than I, and therefore are more unwilling to accept a world of complete (physical) isolation. however, i still am somewhat disturbed by the thought of this dystopian future.

 

[DanP]

this is probably the nail in my coffin. I failed to realize that many other humans are much more social than I, and therefore are more unwilling to accept a world of complete (physical) isolation. however, i still am somewhat disturbed by the thought of this dystopian future.

Surely, such a society ain't very funny

Read "The Naked Sun" by Asimov. It describes a dystopia in which technology allowed ppl to completely isolate themselves physically from one another.

 

[AUK 1138]

Surely, such a society ain't very funny

Read "The Naked Sun" by Asimov. It describes a dystopia in which technology allowed ppl to completely isolate themselves physically from one another.

wow, i should've known Asimov had done this before. I'll be sure to check it out. thanks for the recommendation!