Gaining Our Humanity Back

Humanity can be defined in many different ways. Most people agree that humanity is the special something that separate us from gorillas and the other beasts that we share the earth with. How can we lose this? How can we cast away our being and become less human and more beastly? What happened along the technology-driven path of evolution that we find ourselves on now? In short, I have to believe that the answer is technology. Never has there been such a double edged sword than the progress that humans have made in the realm of technology. Technology, specifically social and entertainment technology, has become the paradox of humanity.

In one sense, advances in technology demonstrate the epitome of human critical thinking, understanding, and cognitive thinking which are all aspects of what should lead to tremendous advances in humanity. We can now communicate on a global scale in a matter of seconds. We have access to a innumerable cache of knowledge without expending effort on more than the twitch of a couple fingers. There are group messages, emails, blogs, Facebook and Twitter and Instagram, websites where you can watch and share videos, cooking tips, and opinions on just about anything. In theory, we should be more in touch with each other as humans than any other time in history. In a sense that is true, but connecting with each other is more than just posting what kind of food you had or how lame the Super Bowl commercials were. It is about the time spend with one another. Quality time to learn about each other beyond the restraints of a screen; beyond the veil of an emotionless line of print posted to the world.

Humanity is about interaction. What sets human interaction apart from animal is our ability to decipher deeper meanings in seemingly simple dialogue. A dog does not hear another's angry bark and think "well he is not really angry that I peed in his territory. He is shy and being defensive and probably has been hurt by a friend in the past." Humans have this extraordinary amazing skill to know how another feels by just looking at them and judging their body movements and facial expression. It is obvious that these skills are becoming obsolete when most interaction is being done over text and social media. I hope I am not the only one who has wished texting were not a thing at times. There are things that I would have preferred to talk about in person that have been rushed by the accessibility of texting.

Humanity is about exploration. We are now able to locate and take in depth looks at anywhere on earth (with the exception of secret government bases and other buildings of that sort). Exploration should be at an all time high following the creation of GPS and apps that will tell you about the best place to eat, the best place to get a massage, to buy cereal, to rent a hovercraft. The funny thing about it is what is happening to us as humans because of it. It makes sense to say we are becoming more robotic as robots serve a more prevalent role in our lifestyles. People spend less and less time outside, too caught up in a virtual reality to take a step outside and explore their surroundings- exploration being a human trait since the dawn of time. Humans often become too entranced in the informational overload thrown at us daily. I am saddened by the amount of people that are content in saying in their hometown forever. Worse yet, the amount of people unwilling to even go hiking in the beautiful, serene, and awe-inspiring forests at our disposal as New Hampshirites. Exploring gives one a chance to become more in tune with himself and gain a wider scope of the world and how it works. It fosters a sense of togetherness with the people that come along for the journey.

These are what humanity is all about. True connectedness with each other. True understanding that is product of personal relationships with the people around you and those that you care about. People talking to people not people hiding behind their screens.