The Importance of Human Interaction in the Age of Technology

“silhouette photo of person holding smartphone” by Gilles Lambert on Unsplash

As the capabilities of technology increase, so does our dependency on it. Innovations in technology have done wonders for the progress and accomplishments made in Business, Science, Medicine, and countless other industries across the board.

Socially, it has brought people together in many ways by allowing us to easily connect with one another through just the click of a button.

It has given people the ability to work remotely, travel while working, and constantly stay in touch with our peers while physically being in a different state or country.

At the same time, technology has also had a huge effect on creating larger gaps between one another — Not necessarily in physical distance, but in interpersonal relationships.

I’m a Millennial. I was born in 1990 — Yes, I just divulged my age.

Growing up, it was normal to show up at a friend’s door unannounced just to see if they were home. It was normal to spend time with people without having the urge to tell the whole world via the internet.

I grew up in a time when technology was still slowly introducing itself to the everyday lives of people. People were still free from the bonds of their mobile devices.

For me personally, I got my first cell phone during my Sophomore year of high school — It was a flip phone and probably the coolest thing that I owned at the time.

Then, I got my first smartphone during my Sophomore year of college — This was a life-changer.

Nowadays, I find myself looking at my iPhone almost every ten minutes just out of sheer habit. It comes as naturally to me as blinking.

However, even though I grew up accustomed to having technology in my life, I’m also still fortunate to be able to “miss the good old days” — A time when technology wasn’t as omnipresent; when it didn’t have such a hold on people’s lives — on my social life, my personal life, my work life.

I’m grateful to have been able to spend time with people and actually look them in the eyes when they’re talking rather than look down…