March 2022 Newsletter

Internet breakdowns last week highlighted our high dependency on communication technology with all banks, EFTPOS machines, internet and most mobiles becoming silent and non-operational.

In the pharmacy we could not access e-prescriptions, update vaccinations, receive faxed or emailed prescriptions or pretty much do anything.

Everything just stopped.

What did happen was I got to see my 14-year boys come out of their rooms and start to interact with the family again.

There was no Netflix, gaming or anything electronic and no social media.

We are a world completely connected and dependent on technology yet many of us feel isolated, lacking real human interaction.

Connecting with friends and associates via technology is the way we do things now, and one that I believe reduces the quality of our human interactions and personal existence.

As a society we all need to make a concerted effort to connect on a much deeper level than just shallow texting or emojis we offer up as an emotional reaction to a tweet.

As humans we need so much more than what we are becoming.

Effectively, we have replaced human interactions with swiping, texting and posting staged photos.

Perhaps I am stuck in the old ways of not wanting to use mobiles to text or connect via the myriad of message services or social media platforms.

Perhaps I am yearning to return to a simpler life where we all could just turn off from the hustle and bustle of life and just be in the presence of family and friends without the horrid little beeps of mobile phone notifications like an incessant dripping tap in the middle of the night.

Perhaps I need to let go of the notion that technology is ruining our society and become more at one with the inevitability of everything digital.

Or, perhaps I should just change the password on the Wi-Fi connection to the internet and not tell anyone.