December 14^, 2012

Does texting make us lonely?

Can you have two conversations at one time? It is not possible to have two conversations at one time. Even if it looks like you are having two conversations at the same time you are really going back and forth between people. You can really only do one thing at a time. Now texting is a kind of conversation that you are having with the other person. You can either text one person or talk to another person in the same room but you cannot do both at the same exact time. When you text messages you are picking that conversation instead of a having one to the face of another person.

I believe this choice will make you lonelier because when you pick texting instead of speaking to a person you are picking the kind of conversation that does not cure loneliness. Texting does not really cure loneliness because it is missing a whole bunch of things that you get when people look at you in the face and speak to you in the same room while they are breathing the same air as you.

When you speak with a person to their face you hear the sound of their voice. Sometimes this is really sweet like when you are talking to a good friend or even really scary like when an angry, crazy person is shouting at you. No matter if it is nice or scary, face to face is not lonely. You miss the sound of the voice when you only use text.

Another thing you miss with text is the faces that people make. Some people roll their eyes, smile, or laugh. Other people stare with huge eyes that look like they are trying to see germs. This also is interesting and keeps you from being lonely. People sigh, laugh, stare, smile, yell and all of this is missing from texting. Of course, texting makes you lonely. You are replacing real conversations with real people and replacing them with texting. Remember we can only pick one of the two at a time. I love the cartoon because the people are ignoring the people around them who could cure their loneliness. They are surrounded by people that they could really be speaking with. I think texting is a trap that makes the loneliness we are trying to get rid of much worse than it would have been because it separates us from the people who can help us who are all around us.