 |
|
In this digital age communication has never been easier. It does not take much effort to send someone an email, txt, or instant message, and get a response quickly! Even though the amount and speed of communication is so high, the quality is not. A lot of things get lost in digital communication that one can get from a more analog conversation. Nothing beats face to face human interaction.
One of the most important aspects of how we communicate that cannot be translated well via digital means is body language. When you are talking to a person you not only hear their words, but you see how they act, their facial expression, and what they are doing with their hands. These visual cues convey a lot of meaning than just the words the person is saying to you. Emails and txt messages cannot transfer these to your recipient.
Another aspect that cannot be transferred is tone of voice. I cannot recall how many digital conversations I have had that went south because of this. If I had been in the same room as the other person, they would have taken my words in a different light because of my tone of voice.
When communicating through these mediums it is often hard to put a face to the other person. Sometimes we do not treat them as another person, but rather a collection of bits and bytes that we will never see. I recently had a girl just stop talking to me after three months of sending emails back and forth, and even a real life date. After sending a number of emails she just stopped responding with no reason given. This is not an unusual occurrence; people tend to treat digital relationships differently because they will probably not see the other person in real life and avoid any awkwardness associated with treating them this way.
An unsuspected benefit of having a normal analog interaction is increased brain activity. My boss told me yesterday that the single most intensive activity one can do for their brain is have a face to face conversation with someone. This is not something that would occur to most people, but if you think about it, it makes sense. When you talk to someone you not only are hearing, translating, and processing their words, but you are seeing their body language and interpreting it. An analog conversation combines numerous audible and visual cues that our brains must take in and process quickly enough to send some back to our partner.
As geeks and nerds we tend to spend a lot of time in digital space. We tend to form a lot of relationships on forums, instant messenger, social media, and games. Nerds and geeks are still followed by a social stigma, even in this technologically advanced age, but it is getting better. This tends to force us to stay at home and not interact with other people as much as we can. This makes human interaction especially important for people like us.
So I say to you loyal readers and fellow geeks get out there and interact with your fellow carbon-based humanoid life forms as much as you can. Whether it be a conversation at a local comic book shop about all of the super hero movies coming out or trying to help a nice family at Best Buy not get suckered in by their pushy sales-people, go talk to people. I highly recommend trying to find a local gaming group to join; you get the benefit of playing some geek games and interaction in the analog world.
blog comments powered by Disqus
