Are we better off?

I recently made a Facebook post which I will now quote: Do you recall the days when you’d spend hours tuning into the radio, eagerly waiting for your favorite song to come on? Or when you’d call into the station, hoping the DJ would play your song and dedicate it to you? Well, those were the days! Nowadays, we just Google it. Isn’t that crazy?”  This caused me to start thinking about what else in our lives has changed due to technology and “modern convenience”.  A few things come to mind.  Read on …

Many of us no longer leave the house to run our errands.  Instead, we depend on our errands being run to us.  Our groceries are delivered and brought into the house, our library books are downloaded digitally, our doctor visits are via a computer screen, and we communicate using texting and instant messaging.  The problem with this, although highly convenient, is we lose contact with others, and by contact, I mean personal contact.  Instant messaging, for example, does not allow one to look into the eye of the person they are conversing with, does not allow them to see facial expressions, nor hear vocal intonations.  This is causing us to give up most of the joy of a personal conversation with someone we like, love, or care about. I think this may have reached an extreme when family members text one another from different rooms in the same household.

It used to be, when one became ill, they would visit their primary care physician for treatment. (We used to refer to them as the “family doctor,” and that is troubling.  It seems less personal and one-on-one when they are just the “PCP.”  I wonder how effective the visit is when the Health Care Provider (another new term) can no longer listen to your breathing and heartbeat, does not take your temperature, and does not investigate your ears and throat.  How accurate can the diagnosis really be when looking at the patient on a 6-inch iPhone screen?  I think we have lost something with the “technology improvement”.

In my opinion,  the online shopping experience has further removed us from the joys of interpersonal contact.  We no longer go to the grocery store, chat with others while waiting in line, have a conversation with the cashier, and wave to others who we may not know but recognize as they too are frequently at the store when we are.  Now we depend on home delivery, and unless we happen to be at the door when the delivery driver arrives, we are not even afforded the opportunity to greet them, thank them, and wish them a good day.  It is just a package at the front door, which our video doorbell informs us has arrived. Our pharmacist no longer greets us by name because we are just a voice on the intercom of the drive-through pharmacy. Our librarian no longer chats with us because the books are digitally downloaded, and we do not step foot in the library.  I could go on and on listing what we have lost because of “technological improvement.”  I believe the list of what we have lost is much longer than what we have gained.

I consider myself extremely fortunate to belong to a fraternal organization where a number of us meet on a weekly basis and enjoy lunch, conversation, and fellowship.  We meet in person, not via a Zoom meeting.  Imagine that!

My question is, are we better off now with all these changes brought about by technology? Is the convenience gained worth the loss of human contact? I guess the jury is still out.  What do you think?