This one is not about religion, even the hardest atheist should recognize where we are headed and it is not looking good. I am not even sure if this story is real or not. Today people manufacture stories to get more attention.
New York Post Whether this photo was staged for attention or this boy was actually forgotten, his story is just one example of the effect that less intimate and more social-media interactions are having on us.
I was talking about this phenomenon with a friend the other day, after several people he invited to an expensive event that he paid for were — No-Shows. We all have stories of people not showing (flaking). Sometimes we do it ourselves. We are pulled in many different directions or no direction at all. Often we wait to commit to see if something better comes along. Worse yet, people commit to attend an event then don’t attend or cancel at last minute.
If we do show up, we spend most of our time checking our phone and posting to social media. Gatherings are no longer about spending quality time with others anymore, rather they have become opportunities to take photos.
The direction we are headed is sad. And as a psychology student, I can tell you we are all paying the price. The stress is literally killing us. No, its not the typical stress you feel when you have a deadline to meet or a bill to pay when you’re in debt; it’s a different type of stress. It is the one that is silent and erodes your health slowly.
Studies have shown that prolonged elevated levels of cortisol can lead to lack of sex drive, weight gain, mood swings, anxiety, depression and a host of other symptoms. This all happens over a slow, protracted time. You don’t feel it right away. Talking in person helps lower cortisol levels.
Unfortunately we have less and less personal interactions and meaningful discussions. So while we skip interacting with each other on an in-person level, choosing instead to sit on our smart phone and throw insults at each other over politics, diet, religion or whatever else we want to argue about, our bodies’ stress level is quietly increasing.
There is no question that loneliness is a significant problem today, and that technology has vastly improved our lives. However, that same technology, used inappropriately, may be causing loneliness. Having thousands of social media friends and hundreds of likes on our photos, can not replace intimate one -on -one relationships. How many people do you really know? And how well do you really know them? Nowadays, social media followers, likes, and meaningless messages in our inboxes, provide a false sense of security, fulfillment, and self-esteem.
One intimate relationship is worth infinitely more than all the social media friends you could ever have.