Digital and human touch

After installing a broadband connection to the internet, I have been surfing the net almost daily, except when I am feeling off the wall. As my wife lay down beside me surfing on her notebook and me surfing on mine, I realise that human has really progress well. Far from the days of living in caves, using fire as light, using round shape rock as wheel, using animals as means of transport, cooling ourselves by water and etc. Now we live in Condominium, bungalows, electricity, cars, LRT, Trains, mobile connection to internet, Fridge, Air Cons and tons of enhancement and invention that provide us comfort.

But does all this really benefit us human. As I was blog surfing and my wife watching Thai TV online, I felt that it has divided us human. It has logically divided us into cubicle, our own cubicle of thoughts. It has shortened the distance between us but it has set us way back in terms of human touch. We no longer really call or meet up with each other. We update each other via our blog. We message each other through Yahoo messenger, Mobile SMS and etc as all this is just a click away and it’s free together with our unlimited internet connection that we subscribed. I guess this is better than no “communication” or updates at all.

There are also no longer a clear line between work and leisure. We surf our favourite web site and along the way we answer email related to work. We connect to online radio from another country while we punch away on our “Words” trying to meet our date line. We search for information and knowledge which allows us to strike up some conversation during breaks in between meetings and discussion. I have been there and now I am trying to detoxify myself, making myself back to more human than just some IP address.

During my path to adulthood, I used to wander along the abandon railway track searching for my ultimate “toys”, spider and fish. The feeling of holding them in my hand and feeling the sweat dropping from my forehead is a feeling that you could not get online. Do you think as our kids grow up, will they catch spiders or surf the net first? As I was writing this post, I am chatting away with my friends and collegue via Yahoo Messenger. I dread the moment when I receive a message via my Yahoo messenger, that reads “Lets go out for lunch” and its from my wife that is sitting beside me surfing on the net……………