Rediscovering Genuine Human Connection
We live in "The Information Age."
How much of it is really information and how much of it is misinformation and distraction - that’s another story.
But the reality is that we are sharing and consuming more information than ever before.
This is something that is already talked about and will have to be talked about a lot in the future if we care about the direction that humanity is moving in.
However, there is one very specific aspect of The Information Age that I want to talk about. It’s how we use digital information to relate to other humans.
My intention with the rest of this text is to challenge you. It is to invite you to embark on an adventure.
Today, it has become normal to rely on digital "information" in order to decide what we think or even how we feel about another person.
If you’ve met someone new, why bother trying to get to know them through genuine conversation when you can go on their social media profile and see where they like to spend their time, what type of music they listen to, what their favorite leisure activities are, and maybe even get a sense of their political orientation? Maybe you see this person sharing something from a page that promotes political views that are different from yours. There is no point in even trying to get to know them better, right?
To take this a step further, you can use digital information before even meeting someone for the first time. Maybe a friend’s friend is going to join you for a night out. By taking a look at their social media profile and all the "information" out there, you can already know if you will get along with them, before you’ve actually met the human behind the "information."
Today, if you decide to rely solely on digital information when relating to other humans, there is no more effort and courage needed.
No effort to communicate on a deeper level and try to get to know each other.
No courage to embrace something that should be an integral part of getting to know another human being: mystery.
So this is my challenge to you. This is my invitation to embark on an adventure by letting genuine human interaction and connection back into your life.
Instead of letting social media tell you who someone is, ask them. Engage in a conversation. Maybe the conversation will also take place in the digital space at first, but it will still be two humans talking, rather than two humans forming opinions of each other without any interaction.
Maybe, by not relying solely on digital information, you find out that some people are much more interesting than you initially thought.
Maybe you see that behind all the differences displayed by digital information, there is a human being who is more like you than you could’ve ever expected.
Maybe, by putting in the effort and having the courage to interact with another human, you actually get to know them.
Thank you for reading.
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