Unplug and make more eye contact

Technology is a wonderful thing. It provides information, it makes lives easier and it helps us stay in contact with loved ones who live far away.

But what about the loved ones right in front of us?

Too often we miss things because we are looking down. Something that is on the rectangle in our pockets is more important than what’s going on in the world around us. We have horse blinders on, only allowing us to see our phones.

This needs to stop.    

Our social skills are becoming impaired.

See someone you don’t like walking toward you? Instead of bracing ourselves and politely smiling and nodding like mature people, we pull out our phones and make it look like we’re doing something important.

This isn’t the only problem, though.    

According to a study by the American Geriatrics Society, a lack of human contact can nearly double an adult’s chance of depression. Study after study reveals that things have taken a turn for the worst.

Yes, we’ve heard it all before. Technology impairs social skills. It takes us away from what’s happening in the moment. It kills the need to leave your bed. So how about some real life examples for college.

Sure, it would be easier to email a professor with a question instead of going to their office hours, but that means you won’t personally get to know them. They probably would have made a good source for a letter of recommendation. Just saying.

What about that cute guy you added on Facebook instead of saying hello? He will probably just talk to the girl behind you who actually made eye contact instead.

Too often we get caught up in what is happening in other’s lives that we don’t stop to see what’s going on in our own. Technology is meant to be used as a tool to enhance our lives, not as a way to avoid them.

Of course, some people argue it the other way. A study done by University College London concluded that technology can help relieve anxiety.

For people with social anxiety, there is really nothing worse than being in a crowded setting. Places like parties, concerts or even the smallest social gatherings can bring on panic attacks.

Technology helps. Being online allows people who suffer from social anxiety to be able to relax and communicate through a different medium where they don’t run the risk of having a panic attack.

Though that is all well and good, not everyone has social anxiety. Not everyone needs that out.

Simply put, there is more to life than the internet. Yes, the internet binds everyone in the world, but there is something else that can bind you to the people right around you.

It’s called eye contact.
 

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