Technology takes the blame again.

The lecture on Wednesday raised some interesting points about technology being blamed for the downfall in society of face to face communication and the decline of a public sphere; technology it seems is also now being blamed for a newly discovered epidemic called loneliness. An article in Sunday (the Sunday Star Times magazine) blames the pace of modern living coupled with mobile devices such as mobile phones and email for the increasing alienation and isolation large numbers of individuals apparently suffer from. Apparently people never suffered from loneliness before the advent of the mobile phone. The article argues the "Modern life isolates you. Technology allows us to put off proper interaction with people, and we've been taught that it is okay to push the human side of things further and further down the list of priorities." The argument goes on to claim that even though people are now more widely connected they are not genuinely connected. I am sure that I am not the only person that regards my family and friends as top of the list of my priorities, with a family that lives in the South Island and friends all over the world, email and text messaging helps me feel more connected and involved in the lives of the people I love than without mobile technologies.