Talking Face-to-Face? What a Concept! (Updated from 12/1/2015)

 

Face-to-face interaction (less often, face-to-face communication or face-to-face discourse) is a concept in sociology, linguistics, media and communication studies describing social interaction carried out without any mediating technology. Sociologist Erving Goffman in his classic 1959 book "The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life" defined face-to-face interaction as "the reciprocal influence of individuals upon one another's actions when in one another's immediate physical presence".

-- Wikipedia, "Face to Face Interaction"

A friend of mine posted this photograph on her social media page.  The concept is a point I harp on constantly and, you guessed it, I'm going to beat the dead horse again.  Face-to-face communication.

Teenagers?  Oh, how we'd love to put this ridicule on the young.  Unfortunately, you can see this scene with elderly people in any restaurant.  Loss of ability to communicate face-to-face is not a malady infecting just our youth.  It is a social grace we have been eroding away at since Innocenzo Manzetti came up with the idea of the "speaking telegraph" in 1844.

All of my friends give me grief over the fact that I still have a "flip" phone.  I carry my flip phone everywhere, and there is a reason for it.  I carried it at my mother's request so, in the event of an emergency, if anything were to happen to her or dad, I could be reached.  That's it.  If I could do away with it, I would.  

When I'm out and about I am enjoying personal time.  I do not want you to call me.  If I wanted you to call me, I'd be at home, or talking to you face-to-face.  But, technology tugs at all of us.  Some of us kick and fight against it like a child at bedtime.  We don't want to go!  We are the Luddites of our day.

Now, don't get me wrong, I love new technology.  I think technology has its place in making our lives easier.  I just think we need to temper our love of technology with the realization that it has the ability to destroy our humanity.  We risk letting technology rule us as in some science fiction movies.  We risk our fiction becoming our reality without learning the moral of the story.   The more we allow technology, the industry behind it, and our own lack of moderation to control our lives, the more we risk being controlled.  We risk becoming the emotionless machines we use.

Unlike the performer Prince, we need to re-learn how to "party like it's 1995."  We need to keep technology in its place.  We need to learn to keep our technology in our pockets when we're out in public.  The whole point of being out in public is to interact face-to-face with other people out in public.  This doesn't mean walking around with an earpiece, talking to yourself like some simpleton or an elderly person with dementia.

Take the damned Blue Tooth out of your ear, so we know when you're talking to us.  If someone ever causes an accident, injuring someone close to me, because they were on the phone or texting, they had better die in the accident because I will probably beat them to death with their own device when I see them.  I wish it amazed me that people, incapable of multitasking, get behind the wheel of a 4000-pound vehicle, speed it up to 65 mph, and proceed to do something other than drive.  Put your makeup on at home, finish your phone calls, finish your lunch, and beat the crap out of your relationship, prior to getting behind the wheel of a two-ton weapon of mass destruction.

Just saying.

When you have dinner together at night, or any meal for that matter, turn off the boob tube and the cell phones. Sit at the dinner table with plates, napkins, and silverware, you know, like civilized human beings.  Try talking with each other about plans for the day, or the day's events.  Exchange anecdotes that may have occurred.  Anecdote?  Look it up, that's why you carry a tablet.  Remember? 

I remember when a tablet was something you wrote on, you know, with a pen, not a stylus.  A pen was the writing implement that ink actually flowed from, in order to make a mark.  This was back in the day when you actually had to know how to spell, do the math... in your head, and, God forbid, talk to someone face-to-face.  It won't be long before your significant other finds it more gratifying to make love to a machine, or Artificial Intelligence, like Gigolo Joe. 

Or... are they already?

Editor's Note

(Re: disclaimer cum "get out of jail free" card)

Before you go getting your panties in a bunch - it is essential to understand that this is just an opinion site and, as such, can be subjected to scrutiny by anyone with a differing opinion. It doesn't make either view any more right or wrong than the other. Opinion, presented in this context, is a way of inciting others to think and, hopefully, to form their own opinions, if they haven't already done so. This is also why, occasionally, I will present an "opinion" just to stir an emotional pot. Where it may sound like I agree with the statements made, I'm more interested in getting others to consider an alternate viewpoint.

I fervently hope that we keep open and active minds when reading opinions while engaging in peaceful and constructive discussion in an arena of mutual respect concerning those opinions offered. After twenty-three years of military intelligence, I believe that engaging each other in this manner, and in this arena, is a way we will learn tolerance and respect for differing beliefs, cultures, and viewpoints.

We all fall from grace, some more often than others; it is part of being human. God's test for us is what we learn from the experience... and what we do afterward.

Pastor Tony spent 22 years with United States Air Force Intelligence as a planner, analyst, briefer, instructor, and senior manager. Following his service career, he spent 17 years working with the premier and world-renowned Western Institutional Review Board, helping to protect the rights of human subjects involved in pharmaceutical research. He also served 8 years on the Board of Directors for the Angela J. Bowen Foundation.

Ordained in 2013 as an "interfaith" minister, he founded the Congregation for Religious Tolerance in response to intolerance shown by Christians toward peaceful Islam. As a weapon for his war on intolerance, he chose the pen. He wages his "battle" in the guise of the Congregation's official online blog, The Path, of which he is both author and editor. "The Path" offers a vehicle for commentary and guidance concerning one's personal, spiritual path toward peace and the final destination for us all. He resides in Pass Christian, Mississippi, where he volunteered as the lead chaplain at a regional medical center.

Feel free to contact Pastor Tony at: tolerantpastor@gmail.com