Knowledge

Emails, Blackberry, and the End of Civilisation

 Dear Reader,

When people enter into contact, they usually use some kind of ritual to acknowledge the other person's presence. From the classical handshake to the Asian bending, from the "Hey!" to the "How do you do", from "Hi!" to long conversational rituals, there are all sorts of ways to oil social contacts and to acknowledge the fact that the person in front of you is another human being who deserves respect just fo that reason. 

Well, actually this was the basis of a decent conversation "in the good old days".

These social rules are being blown away by the new communication devices. Typing on a blackberry is not something you do for fun: so, to cut the hassle short, people remove everything that is not essential and get rid of all the hello, please, goodbye, thank you, calling people by their name and other time-wasting rituals. Or so they think.

The result is a communication style than the receiver will often perceive as aggressive, disrespectful, brutal and uncivilised, although the sender has no bad intentions. He is just struggling with the keypad, focused on being efficient, and bringing the expression "straight to the point" to new dimensions. 

Politeness? Come on, daddy!! We live in the XXIst century! 

Best regards,

Antoine Henry de Frahan

Antoine Henry de Frahan | 23 July 2009 |