Look up before it’s too late

I know a “book” is a relative concept. You can read a “book” on a Kindle or an ipad. You can “turn” “pages.”

I’m not going to go old man crazy on you and tell you how reading devices are ruining reading. Because that would be an understatement.

What they’re really doing is ruining human communication.

Actually, the reading device conundrum is part of a bigger digital dilemma. At the epicenter is texting, and according to Sherry Turkle, who spoke at the Chicago Humanities Festival over the weekend, its affect on the increasing deterioration of actual human interaction. She has a new book on the subject. The NYT liked it.

It’s unsettling when you see people texting during a funeral, or families who sit at the same dinner table staring at their own screens. Nauseating, even. For many reasons which she articulates. And I’ll add one more:

The future revolves around forming communities. Bringing people together to connect and think and create and solve. It’s what Twist lives for and does every day. Because you have nothing if you don’t have community. And while there may be plenty of communities online, you can’t do anything if you don’t look up and talk to one another.

So let’s use technology to create communication, not break it down. I double dog dare you to take a walk with a friend and leave your blackberry/iphone etc behind. You can meet him on eharmony, or talk with her about a book you e-read. Start online if you must. But eventually, just go on a walk. Talk, connect, discuss, develop.

And look up. You never know what might be up there.