touch

Yesterday walking to a train station in an unfamiliar part of Sydney, I asked directions of a “40-ish” bloke, making the mistake of not realising he had the plugs in, and was completely unaware of anything around him, including me. Once he did I was subjected to an unpleasant tirade, as I had apparently interrupted his “favorite bloody song”
Sorry.

Big deal.

It seems many of us have so decisively crawled into a digital hole that we are forgetting the joy, the humanity of real interaction with another human being, even if it is a trivial contact, and we do not know them.
To completely unplug may be going too far, and it is impractical in this world, but get a bit of balance back, and control the digital monster, rather than having it control you.

 

PS. Colin Sander alerted me to the great TED talk by Sherry Turkle which I had missed, but now watched. It is a persuasive and disturbing articulation of the landscape of our digital engagement, the risks and benefits that engagement brings us, a tiny slice of which I saw on Sunday near Chatswood station. Thanks Colin.