Communication - My Manifesto

We are put on this earth to live. We live with other people. Communication is a necessity. Like breathing. Technology is a means to this end. Somewhere, we got lost.

I can probably trace the watershed moment of our attention span to when Michael Jackson's "Thriller" video came out. It became the gold standard for how long the general public could maintain concentration.

Faxes became the next attention grabber. How quickly could you scan a page became the determining factor for attention. E mail was soon to follow. People stopped writing. If I want to really display an emotion today, I will write you a letter or note by hand. Otherwise, it's an email. Writing is reserved for special occasions. Somehow, we all became "king baby". "I want your attention RIGHT NOW!". Email isn't good enough. Now we have texting and instant messaging. We don't care what you are doing- you will pay us attention right now. As I write these words, I have gotten three texts and one instant message. Where is my train of thought going? Are these really important? Is it highly critical?

As a wired society, we have developed ourselves into a societal attention deficit disorder. I should say, an attention deficit by disorder. What is this doing to our civility? I can text something abrupt easier than I would barge into someone's space. I can write coarsely- or post abusively because the consequences are just out in the Ether and it doesn't require a lot of courage.

Now we have "cyber bullying" - where the consequences are profound. Lives are ruined when private information is posted. What happened to slander and libel? Go to any news site and read comments to almost any article. Conjecture is presented as fact. News is a matter of opinion.

Our workplaces are permeated by "king babies". "I want what I want when I want it NOW!!!. I will send you a text, I will interrupt you, I will reach across the network and grab your attention!."

Communication is our interaction with each other. It defines our relationships - at work, at play and as a society. Civility is our way to regulate these interactions. Communication without civility is disorder. Disorder spoils the development of our thoughts. Our thoughts become our words, our words become our actions, our actions become our character, our character becomes our destiny.