The Perils of Using Email in Place of Real Conversation

Between texts and emails, I have found many people have given up the notion of a complex and rich conversation. First, email conversations can be perilous and detrimental replacements for real human interaction. On one hand, I like email because I can be more thoughtful and make sure I touch on all necessary points. On the other hand, email lacks tone, intonation and true inflection for what I really mean -- especially if it's a joke. Email or texts for other people can be dangerous because they don't bother to express anything more than a one-sentence response to something that might actually require a thoughtful examination. In fact, I know some text addict who have become so accustomed to monosyllabic answers, they could be dubbed the new "Neanderthal" man or woman. A simple "yes" or "no" to a complicated matter does not suffice. The scary part is that is how some people's brains work in the first place. Getting a thoughtful answer out the text-trained brain can be as difficult as pulling a tooth out of their heads. And then the worst offenders have taken to using often vague acronyms that no one uses with the expectation that we all know what he or she just said. I've scratched my head over some of those. The real message is that if you have something important or meaningful to say, you should pick up the phone. Or here is something to truly blow your braids apart, invite the person to a face-to-face meeting and discuss it over coffee. Wow! Real, live interaction -- and no that did not go the way of the caveman!