Technology and Humanity

This evening in class, I was working with my students, reviewing their drafts to ensure everyone was writing the right paper. I moved from computer to computer as I usually do on draft day, allowing my students a little downtime as I work with individuals. Depending on the dynamic of the particular class, this downtime is spent any number of ways—some work on their papers; some work on other assignments; some snicker and giggle with the people nearest them; and, inevitably, there are those who sneak out their phones and begin texting away. (Ah, dear students, you didn't really think we don't notice, did you?)

Source: http://some.ly/HvYTgo

Honestly, it doesn’t bother me. I do have specific guidelines about cell phone use in my classrooms, but I’m realistic with those guidelines. I have a three year old and a five month old who may need me at any given minute, so I realize that telling them to leave their phones at home or requiring that they be turned off in class would be a bit hypocritical, considering I have my phone on me. Likewise, I have never set any guidelines as to what they are supposed to do with this time, and it isn’t as if they are being disrespectful, texting or Facebooking while I’m lecturing.

In fact, I actually expect silence to ensue and most students to turn to their phones. It seems that an unfortunate side effect of society’s continued technological advancement is the lack of human interaction it encourages. Sure, kids still sit around with their friends, but, instead of talking to one another, most are so focused on their phones, one wonders if they even realize that there are other living, breathing people sitting in their presence.

The other day, I saw a Pinterest pin, Albert Einstein's fear, that I found sadly true. It showed several different images of groups of people engaging in what would usually be social activities – getting together for coffee, riding in the car, having dinner – but instead of having a conversation, the eyes of everyone in each photo were averted, their focuses on the phones they held in their laps. The photos were captioned with a quote attributed to Albert Einstein that read, “I fear the day that technology will surpass our human interaction. The world will have a generation of idiots.”

Well, I cannot find any reliable evidence to suggest Einstein actually said those words. But I did find this quote, attributed to Einstein, which seems a bit more plausible:

“It has become appalling obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity.”

Of course, this is most frequently interpreted as the idea that technology continues to advance at considerable rates, while humanity, the virtue, that is, seems to stagnate for lack of use. And, truly, this is never more obvious than when watching the latest generation to enter the college classroom interact. Students are technologically savvy, yet they have less people skills than previous generations and really lack effective oral communication skills. This, in itself, lends to the decline of kindness and compassion because, if we cease communicating but through written shorthand via text or messaging, doesn’t our ability to utter pleasantries just for the sake of acknowledging another human being begin to suffer as well?

(On a side note, one would think that the constant texting, messaging, tweeting would perhaps encourage the development of writing skills, at least, but, sadly, those skills, too, suffer – so much so, in fact, that some students do not understand why it is inappropriate to submit writing assignments laden with 2 for two [or, worse, to or too!], c for see, u for you, and b for be. Certainly what could possibly be wrong with lowercase letters at the start of sentences? And periods and apostrophes… who really needs them? Shouldn’t a reader just be able to infer what I mean when I jumble a series of words together? But I digress…)

Tonight, while I expected silence and the flutter of fingers noiselessly responding to the texts students had received during the first part of class, I found myself distracted. At first, I couldn’t understand why I was having such a hard time getting through their paragraphs. I read and reread one particular paragraph, not because it was confusing or poorly written, but because I couldn’t focus on the words. I kept getting pulled away from the words on the screen. And then it hit me, rather forcefully (and joyfully, might I add, considering I was beginning to lose faith in my students). I realized I was having such trouble concentrating because silence wasn’t filling the room behind me. 

Instead, my students were actually talking to one another!

From the opposite side of the room, I heard laughter (laughter about the assignment topic, no less!), from my left I heard one student encourage another who was struggling with ideas for her paper, and from just behind me I heard a student praise another’s essay. For whatever reason, tonight my students turned away from the technology that tends to dominate most of our lives today and engaged each other!

And, though it may have taken me longer to get through their papers because I was having to filter the background noise as I read, tonight I left class happy: happy that my students still have voices; happy that they were having conversations about writing; and happy that, if my class can serve as evidence, perhaps technology has not completely surpassed our humanity just yet.