Is Technology Making Us Impersonal?

Audiofuzzy said:
when did you last actually talked face to face, touched someone, smiled with someone face to face, talked on the TTY with someone,
do you even remember such thing as MANNERS?
if you communicate mostly via technology and smileys, I doubt you even remember anymore what is like to walk in crowd without your cell in hand
anymore and connect with ... people, acutally.

Fuzzy
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:smoking::nana:
Im immersed with meeting people everyday on the job, however im still looking for close friends that i can meet up for coffee and chat. Or do things with. My phone is just something that im able to use through out day while working to keep myself amused. And it lets me make business calls. Allows me to chat with those who aren't close by..

if i had tto choose btwn technology or real life. I'd pick real life first of course..
Nothing substitutes the facial expression, smell, body language, interaction, touch, v.s using technology. But technology did open up doors for me to make all my business calls. Appointments, keeping in touch, while working. Actually without my phone, work would be really boring.
:hug::hug:
 
Well explained "Vacationguy" . I noticed as a Deaf individual im more motivated to read text from a forum than pick up a book to read. My Deaf friends i went to school with and worked with are doing better with grammar texting, too. Its not perfect, but better than it would be on paper. Just my humble two cents worth there.
 
Good point "Silentrider" that works well when you are close to friends to do that. I prefer that as well....BUT....when its late and i cant sleep....or stuck in house all day....love my texting.
 
Another thing that pops up in my head is that growing up, it was hard fitting in with whichever group was available. I was either not "deaf" enough due to having the aability to read lips and talk even though I don't hear anything .. and I was either too deaf not picking up lip reading 100%. And unable to be reached.
Now with technology I can video chat. Or use text or relay for the hearing. Making it easier to get to know more people.
I do agree that technology can also make people impersonal, but really not really any different with those who smile and chat but are being fake. Or people putting on their work face. People putting on an front.
So it depends on each individual. There's a pro and con for everything. Its up to us how we want to make life for ourselves.
 
Bottesini said:
But due to disability, I have very poor fine motor control.

If I write , I look like an illiterate five year old.

Technology enables me to communicate in a much more sophisticated manner.
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My dad said my writing looked like a fly fell into an ink well and crawled across the paper! And my motor control was fine, I guess I just have awful writing . But I still it would mean a lot more to get a letter that was hand written than an email no matter how poor the writing is.
 
My dad, an engineer, used to give me graph paper for stationery in an attempt to improve my handwriting. (In my defense, I will say that I was self-taught; when our family transferred from the East Coast to the West during the school year, I was in second grade; my teacher gave me a small book on cursive writing and told me to learn it; she didn't have time to teach me.)
 
I believe kids these days will not be able to have a real phone conversation. Sitting at the mall you will see a group of friends having lunch and every single one of them is on their phone. None of them even look at one another. I just can't believe that people think their that important that if they don't answer a text, tweet, email right away their world will end.

Walking through the mall almost every single person is on their phone. No one says "hi" or even looks your way anymore.

However since losing my hearing it is very nice to be able to text my kids to check in with them.

I actually got Christmas emails instead of cards this year, sad.
 
Reba said:
My dad, an engineer, used to give me graph paper for stationery in an attempt to improve my handwriting. (In my defense, I will say that I was self-taught; when our family transferred from the East Coast to the West during the school year, I was in second grade; my teacher gave me a small book on cursive writing and told me to learn it; she didn't have time to teach me.)
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Impressive. I'm a lefty, I was taught wrong in school(Or, I just didn't hear them). The secret to good handwriting is practice and patience. If you read Spencerian Key penmanship, Mr. Spencer stresses how one should think about nature as they write and compares the movements to waves and flowers. The trick is to teach your mind how to move the pen without worrying about the letters. It is a free mind that writes best. I'm a long way from mastering it, but I have learned a lot, that is the most important thing.

Keep in mind, "There is no right or wrong with art". Seriously! It a perfectionist's conundrum.
 
Doctors have the worst writing. Amazes me because all that information on the written prescription is so important. I had 20 years of reading and processing their "writing". Probably 1 out of every 10 had an error on it that caused a delay for the patient.

I always suggested to patients when your doctor hands you a written RX have them read it back to you. Only takes a minute and can save you some serious issues.
 
Angel1989 said:
Doctors have the worst writing. Amazes me because all that information on the written prescription is so important. I had 20 years of reading and processing their "writing". Probably 1 out of every 10 had an error on it that caused a delay for the patient.

I always suggested to patients when your doctor hands you a written RX have them read it back to you. Only takes a minute and can save you some serious issues.
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That may, in fact, be true. I'll have to ask some of our doctors about it. As I understand it, most prescriptions are written in Latin and, I've always thought, are meant to be vague. Since I don't read Latin, I can't confirm it.
 
Because my parents bought our first computer when I was five (in 1985) I have terrible handwriting. I do, however, type like the wind. :)

I don't think that technology is making people rude or less personal unless they let it. If you sit in a social situation and don't put your phone down, that's you, not the phone. If you just talk about crap when you do send a message to someone, that's still you, not the technology.

I think it's like anything else - it's open to abuse and people need to realize that. I am so happy to be able to talk to people here, in games, on Skype, that I can't say technology is bad. So please, text responsibly :)
 
VacationGuy234 said:
That may in fact be true. I'll have to ask some of our doctors about it. As I understand it, most prescriptions are written in Latin and, I've always thought, are meant to be vague. Since I don't read Latin, I can't confirm it.
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They write the drug name, quantity, and the directions how to take it.

QD=Daily
HS=at bedrime
BID=twice daily
TID= three times a day
QID= four times a day
PO= by mouth

Example.
Amoxicillin 500mg #30
1 cap PO TID x 10 days

So it is an antibiotic with 30 capsules. Take 1 capsule by mouth three times daily for ten days.
Hope this helps some. Always a good idea to be informed about your medication.
 
VacationGuy234 said:
Impressive. I'm a lefty, I was taught wrong in school(Or, I just didn't hear them). The secret to good handwriting is practice and patience. If you read Spencerian Key penmanship, Mr. Spencer stresses how one should think about nature as they write and compares the movements to waves and flowers. The trick is to teach your mind how to move the pen without worrying about the letters. It is a free mind that writes best. I'm a long way from mastering it, but I have learned a lot, that is the most important thing.

Keep in mind, "There is no right or wrong with art". Seriously! It a perfectionist's conundrum.
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Oh, the poor lefties in my next grade, when we advanced from pencil writing to pen and ink. In those days, we used ink wells and fountain pens that had to be filled (no cartridges). Then, we used a blotter to keep it from smudging. Can you imagine the kids whose left hands dragged thru the wet ink? :( Did you develop your own technique?

For Christmas my grandson (age 16) wanted a fountain pen (cartridge style but convertible to inkwell if he changes his mind). He likes the way a nib flows rather than a ballpoint. He also likes my dad's old (1940's) typewriter. I was surprised that he could type so smoothly (a heavy manual typewriter keyboard requires a much firmer touch than an iPad).
 
Angel1989 said:
They write the drug name, quantity, and the directions how to take it.

QD=Daily
HS=at bedrime
BID=twice daily
TID= three times a day
QID= four times a day
PO= by mouth

Example.
Amoxicillin 500mg #30
1 cap PO TID x 10 days

So it is an antibiotic with 30 capsules. Take 1 capsule by mouth three times daily for ten days.
Hope this helps some. Always a good idea to be informed about your medication.
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Thanks. Oh, I'm informed about my medication, if any. I don't take drugs(not even aspirin if I can help it), unless I absolutely have to. I work for a medical publishing company.

Good post..

It's about the handwriting from your post that interest me.
 
I love reading the handwritten letters from my ancestors. It seems like even the ones who had little formal education still had a way with words, and a flourish with their handwriting.
 
metalangel said:
Because my parents bought our first computer when I was five (in 1985) I have terrible handwriting. I do, however, type like the wind. :)

I don't think that technology is making people rude or less personal unless they let it. If you sit in a social situation and don't put your phone down, that's you, not the phone. If you just talk about crap when you do send a message to someone, that's still you, not the technology.

I think it's like anything else - it's open to abuse and people need to realize that. I am so happy to be able to talk to people here, in games, on Skype, that I can't say technology is bad. So please, text responsibly :)
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Good points. :)
 
Reba said:
Oh, the poor lefties in my next grade, when we advanced from pencil writing to pen and ink. In those days, we used ink wells and fountain pens that had to be filled (no cartridges). Then, we used a blotter to keep it from smudging. Can you imagine the kids whose left hands dragged thru the wet ink? :( Did you develop your own technique?

For Christmas my grandson (age 16) wanted a fountain pen (cartridge style but convertible to inkwell if he changes his mind). He likes the way a nib flows rather than a ballpoint. He also likes my dad's old (1940's) typewriter. I was surprised that he could type so smoothly (a heavy manual typewriter keyboard requires a much firmer touch than an iPad).
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No, I don't reinvent the wheel, unless it needs to be done. I use a hook style and I turn the paper at an angle, this technique is already known.

Side note: A while back I read about Christopher McCandless, a young man who died, tragically, trying to be close to nature in Alaska. What struck me about the story was that what he was trying to do was what the natives had done for millennia. Now, I'm not against trying to do nostalgic things and, in fact, thanks to Galileo, we can prove accepted conventions wrong. But to embark without the knowledge of those who have come before us; who have given their lives so that we can go further, does not make sense.

Once you hit an impasse, it is time to improvise.
 
VacationGuy234 said:
No, I don't reinvent the wheel, unless it needs to be done. I use a hook style and I turn the paper at an angle, this technique is already known.

Side note: A while back I read about Christopher McCandless, a young man who died, tragically, trying to be close to nature in Alaska. What struck me about the story was that what he was trying to do was what the natives had done for millennia. Now, I'm not against trying to do nostalgic things and, in fact, thanks to Galileo, we can prove accepted conventions wrong. But to embark without the knowledge of those who have come before us; who have given their lives so that we can go further, does not make sense.

Once you hit an impasse, it is time to improvise.
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I see you bought into the romance that "Into The Wild" brought you.

McCandless was schizophrenic. He had various aliases, referred to himself in the third person, and lived out his fantasy of getting lost in the wild. He was struggling with his mind. He needed treatment but that story doesn't sell very well. The mythic, folk-hero plot sells much better... and boy you bought it hook, line, and sinker.
 
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