Ego Partis Proinde Ego Sum

I share therefore I am.

Which is a paraphrase of Rene Descartes and "Cognito Ergo Sum."

At the Global Economic Conference this year at the Beverly Hilton I heard a panel about technology, multi-tasking, and how the internet is making people stupid. The panelists were researchers dealing with various studies. Most involving kids anywhere from 8 to college age.

They talked about how people are hyper-connected to each other thru many devices and various social and business networks. This tendency to over communicate is having an effect on kids today. Kids are constantly communicating but they are not connecting. I've seen kids texting each other as they sit a a room together. But for all the communication, they don't know how to read a person's face as they deal with them one on one. They lack the empathy training which you learn as you grow up talking to people and seeing how they react to what you are saying. By bypassing this personal connection kids are missing the visible cues that are part of human relationships.

One researcher studied college kids in a dorm. They were asked about the interactions they had with a person on their same floor. He asked them if they have a question for someone down the hall why they texted instead of getting up and going down the hall and knocking on the door. There were a number of reasons they preferred texting.

1. They don't have to engage in any social pleasantries. "Hi. How's it going? Can I ask you a question?" They can get straight to the question.

2. What if they are not in their room? They just spent all that energy to get up and go down the hall. What if they are not in? They feel rejection if no one answers the door.

3. What if they say "No"? It's a rejection again, but to their face and that would make them feel bad.

Kids also equate technology as part of an emotional event. They feel an emotion and they are driven to share it via text or tweet or FB post. They don't necessarily know how to deal with an emotion they are feeling without sharing it. The feeling of an emotion is now tied into relaying the thought. They have a thought or feeling and have a need to share it to get validation for thinking or feeling it. So without the sharing, does the emotion really happen for them? Does the urge to share go part and parcel with the feeling?

By being so connected the kids are never truly alone. Friends are a keystroke away. If you don't teach kids how to be alone, they only know how to be lonely.

Now I got to go share this blog on some social media...