I really don't want to use this blog to talk about "the good old days". I certainly don't want to sell myself as an old poop who yearns for the days when everything about our world was better, even though I'm strongly inclined to do that. Yes, I'm past middle age and entering my senior years but I really am trying to keep up with the times. Honest! I haven't rejected all that is new and modern. I don't mean to say I'm a Beiber fan but I do have a blog, a Twitter account, a Facebook account and I even have a Pinterest account even though I have no idea how to use it.
However...................... some of our new forms of communication just don't cut it in the "meaningful exchange" department. Anything of importance, be it in business or personal, is not served well in a Tweet or a Facebook exchange. The same goes for email. To get the most bang for your buck, we must arrange a meeting in person or at the very least, a phone call. I might even go for a hand written letter, stamped and posted. It implies effort and effort implies respect.
To use any other means of expressing something as important as an apology for example, would be insulting to the other person and that would mean yet another apology. And if there's one thing in life I try to avoid, it's apologizing for an apology.
I yearn for substance and meaning, for connectedness with my fellow human being. The iPhone addicts can never feel this connectedness as they gape in wonder at their little screen, hoping to see or read something of value, something that might make them feel important. This all sounds bleak I know but using hand held devices is a solitary act and its a demonstration of loneliness and despair. To witness this public display of isolation each day, to see it dominate our day as it does, is painful.
It reminds me of a character in the Herman Hesse novel, Steppenwolf. Harry Haller, the protagonist, feels himself to be "a wolf of the Steppes" (Steppenwolf), that is alone in a world that makes no sense to him. He sees little hope and joy. He is the typical isolationist roaming the streets looking for meaning. If Harry had had an iPhone, he would never have suffered the pains of loneliness and despair that consumed his life. Most likely this book would never have been written. In fact, existentialism might not ever have been invented and that would have driven me to the depths of depair and no one wants that to happen.