disconnected connections

I posted this to Facebook after watching Felix Baumgartner's record-setting high-altitude jump this past Sunday:

"I just spent three hours watching live footage of an amazing collaboration of nationalities and specialities, streaming from one place hundreds of miles away and another 24 miles up, while chatting online with a friend across the country, seeing live updates from people around the world, culminating with all of us cheering the achievements nearly simultaneously.

I love these times."

I'll admit that the internet and its anciliary products have done their part to actually lessen the quality of our interactions in a way...instead of calling or sending birthday cards, people post to walls; instead of sending gifts, people forward a cute cartoon; instead of bringing a casserole, people text heartfelt condolences; email and texts have taken over as primary contact methods. I'll also admit to being just as guilty in many cases; being the introvert, the socially-awkward penguin that I am, asynchronous communication is definitely easier for me. It's the way the times are going...the days of dropping by and saying hi are fading away.

But that same technology also brings us closer...we can now share events and news faster than ever, and with more people, in more locations, in more ways than would have seemed possible a while back. Good news, bad news, celebrating, mourning, pondering, discovering, sharing...it's there at the beep of a button, click of a mouse, tap of a finger. There are definitely drawbacks to losing that face-to-face personal connection, but there are advantages to be had in the extended reach that the times we live in can offer. Like it or not, the future is happening now...we are all time travelers, moving forward one second per second, with the future unveiling itself bit by bit.

It's pretty cool.