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“My play was a complete success. The audience was a failure.” (Oscar Wilde, writer 1854-1900)

Whether you like it or not, you depend on human interactions and other people’s opinions for your survival. The main reason solitary confinement is considered such a severe punishment is based on this premise. People can go mad from lack of human contact- emotional and physical.
Or perhaps it’s because they can’t deal with themselves and their reality.
Consider this; when was the last time you purposely spent time alone with yourself to…well, contemplate your life? For most of us the appreciation of solitude comes along with age and intelligence, and is usually hard earned.
To translate into a scenario that is more palatable to the modern day, envision your communication minus cell phone, twitter, Facebook, email, smart phone, Skype, etc.
Experts on human interaction are quite bothered by this. They recommend ‘unplugging’ for extended periods of time and paying more attention to live interactions. Although it has been recognized that too much of any one thing is destructive, I can’t say the average person is at fault for overdosing when it comes to technology. What these so-called experts have to take into account is that people adapt to their environments. What they are suggesting is that those who have been ‘infected’ remove themselves and make themselves different from their surroundings. They are contradicting themselves! We are told over and over to be normal and not to attract unnecessary attention to ourselves. We observe how people who are radically different are often condemned and doomed socially.
Personally, my sole connection to the outside world is a pre-paid cellular (archaic, yes I know) which under five people have access to. I have received much rebuke about this from people who haven’t the courage to call my land-line and complain that I am unreachable. I prefer it that way. But there are many valid reasons to be ‘plugged in’ and I respect that. Rather than establishing unreasonable guidelines to decrease electronic usage, a more effective solution might be to just raise an awareness of the damage that excess technology is causing. Skills such as spelling and use of quality vocabulary have been lost to writing in ‘text speak’ and monosyllables. People who you can interact with verbally and have a relatively intellectual conversation with are harder to come by. We find it exceedingly difficult to focus on just one (can you imagine?) task without getting distracted. This might seem too passive of an approach but the only way someone will consistently do something that is against their nature is if they want to.
Most of us desire more wholesome relationships and clearer communication with those who we care about. When all is said and done and your cards are laid out on the table I’ve got one question- why haven’t you signed off yet?