Has technology affected interaction and creativity? (Yes, we’ve become aliens to each other!)

A couple of years ago, a siren went off in my handbag. Yes, a siren! For the uninitiated, that, my friend, was my battered Chinese phone signaling me about an incoming sms. I won’t get into the nitty gritty details that come with reading an sms on this veteran ‘China’ phone, that’s a long story for another day. That said, I was startled. Don’t get me wrong, my China phone, with all its trials, tribulations and “injuries” still serves the purpose. What startled me was one simple line from my young brother simply saying, “Grandpa has passed”. Dead? I gasped. How? Did I not talk to him just the other day? He didn’t even sound sick. I had always loved my grandfather. He was quite old but his resilience, energy and determination inspire me up to today. When had I last seen him? What does a call really mean when it comes to someone close to your heart and close to you geographically? I pride myself in being a modern woman but I have always kept some old fashioned habits. I regretted why I had not visited or had one day off just talking to him. I thought about how wrong it is to think that a phone call; even if it’s every day, is enough. The things we take for granted came pouring into my heart one by one. I think about all the people I care about that have become phone call/ sms friends. A visit is so rare that we literally only interact at weddings or a funerals. Technology is perhaps one of the best things to happen to mankind but are we taken up by the excitement that comes with such innovations that we don’t remember what is most important? What about creativity? One wonders, and for good reason, why do personal research when Google has all the information? Is this why mother or teacher doesn’t know best anymore? If we were to count how many people get sick and first rush to Google to type their symptoms before they go and see the doctor who they will actually disagree with based on what Google says, we would be embarrassed. What about going to the internet to find out how to remedy a deteriorating relationship when in fact the solution probably mainly lies in the fact that instead of talking about how we feel, we are instead looking for advice from the internet? Sometimes I feel lucky that my battered ‘China’ phone adamantly refuses to allow me the previleges that come with Whatsaap, an application where people chat whenever and wherever, free of charge. I enjoy meeting people because I get to feel the abundance of love in just one hug, I get to enjoy the stories in detail, I get to experience the emotions attached to them and that in a crazy world is in itself priceless.Let’s not get it wrong, technology has changed our lives for the better in many areas but made us aliens to each other.