I vividly recall the look of that room. The one which held the computers in my freshman year of high school. Everything felt sterile to me...white walls, white desks, white ceiling and a black screen that blinked with electronic gibberish. Instead of facing my fellow students or the teacher, I was staring at that screen and trying to comprehend WHY I had to have anything to do with this box. I remember leaving the class and determining never to have anything to do with computers again if I could help it! The year was 1979.
What a difference a few decades makes!
Fast forward to 1996, the year I launched my first website which utilized FTP protocol. My cousin who was studying computer science convinced me to be his guinea pig. When he asked me how often I planned on checking e-mail, I said...'oh, about once a month.' After all, who needed to check e-mail when you could pick up the phone and call someone
What a difference perspective creates!
My initial assumption about computers was that they were cold boxes, devoid of life. I wanted little or
nothing to do with them. I initially failed to comprehend how communication could be improved or enhanced by sending a message online rather than calling someone to talk.
I still laugh about how resistant I was to a tool which I now use daily to communicate with people from all over the country. But, I'm also struck by the fact that assumptions don't die...they simply change vehicles of transmission.
Today, Facebook and Google are in the process of re-defining the process of communication.
Our thirst for information can be quenched in seconds. The creation of a thought dispensed to hundreds through a tweet or a status update. But, yet I wonder if we are assuming that conversation and communication are the same thing. Perhaps they are, but maybe they are not.
What a difference communion makes!
Have we forgotten that a cup of coffee or a home cooked meal creates a communion which undresses the soul to reveal that which cannot be penetrated by a brief pithy statement. Are we skating multiple surfaces while remaining in a state of distracted oblivion?
I'm struck by the power of a conversation. The simple act of sitting down and looking at someone...listening and engaging them with thoughtful intention. Conversation has a way of creating connections which elude the world of casual contacts.
Medium vs Message...
Maybe it's not about the medium or the message. Perhaps, the real issue is intention. My earlier assumptions that technology was sterile and devoid of life were not entirely true. Today my use of technology shapes the dialog with folks as it weaves it's way through various dimensions of the virtual universe. But yet, there's nothing quite like a shared cup of tea enjoyed even while surrounded by folks busy checking up on their iPhones, BlackBerrys and laptop computers.
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