There is a high price we have all paid for every convenience the Digital Age offers. Now, instead of having a conversation when a quick answer is needed, we ask Alexa. Or Google a phrase and get millions of answers in seconds. It’s handy, but we’ve lost something valuable in the process.
A Facebook post by a young mom asking for recipes and recommendations on local cooking classes got my attention this week. My first thought was, “you should ask your mom”. I’ve been cooking dinners for decades but when we got married, I was definitely deficient in culinary skills. I recall plenty of burned entrees, crunchy rice, and inedible attempts at new dishes.
There was no Pioneer Woman blog to reference for recipes. In fact, there was no Google and no internet. I know – sounds like the Stone Age. You couldn’t quickly look up a cooking term or ask Alexa how long to cook chicken breasts. My go-to for cooking help was picking up the phone and calling my mom.
Mom didn’t claim to be a stellar cook. But she had experience and I could count on her for sound advice. Her answers often came within the context of a story. Combined with snippets of news – it kept us closely connected in the midst of our busy lives. The oral tradition of sharing family information has served to perpetuate culture for centuries. Until now.
This short video clip presents a concept called digital dementia. This references our dependence on smart phones to think for us. Just as distressing as the concept of mental atrophy is the effect the digital age is having on conversational aptitude. We will always need relationships more than we need information. That’s the way we are wired as humans. We best not forget it.
Now go call your mom. You’ll access another kind of smart. Your mom might be smarter than Google.