Relationships & Family >
Communication Issues
Get a Widget for this title
RSS FeedIs conversation becoming a lost art?
Results so far:
| Yes | 71% | 289 votes | Total: 406 votes | |
| No | 29% | 117 votes |
Yes
Write now
Print
Invite a writer™
Add to FavoritesIn a process that began over two decades ago with the invention of electronic mail, interpersonal communications have rapidly moved into the realm of impersonal communications. While technology has played a large role in distancing us from each other socially, so too has the lack of focus on interpersonal skills in schools and the work place. A reliance on slang, short hand messaging and other short cuts in an increasing fast pasted time sensitive world has forced us as individuals to become masters of abbreviation when it comes to communications.
Slave s to our jobs, torn between various sporting events and afterschool activities for our ever increasingly busy children and constantly struggling to reserve time for relaxation and family there is little time left in the average persons day for the pleasantries afforded by conversation. We must be brief, concise and efficient in our communications. As a result of these factors, sitting for an hour or two conversing about politics, the weather or family are things we simply have no time for today. Instead we ingest today's conversational equivalent in the form of radio and television talk shows, tabloid news media or unrealistic reality television and news programs.
The abbreviated replacements of conversation that we rely on today sustain us and give us only a fraction of the social interaction that once spurred us into action. Political conversations that once moved us to demonstrate and stand up to the massive machine of government are now condensed into blogs we can skim over in our spare time. Family news and updates that we once sat around the dinner table discussing and analyzing are now reduced to the barely legible acronym speak of text messages between family members. Long distance conversations between age old friends are now relegated to an all too often over-filled inbox to be sorted through like so many pieces of unwanted junk mail. This is the reality of what has killed conversation in today's society.
Perhaps the issue isn't so much that the art of conversation is lost as much as it is no longer needed. As with many other things in our lives, technology has made conversation unnecessary in today's information age. This certainly seems to be the stance our schooling systems have taken. Emphasis has been shifted from social skills that we started learning at the earliest possible ages to more practical real world skills in technology, science and mathematics. Debate clubs in high school are a neglected foot note in the extracurricular activity calendars of most schools, overshadowed by the more popular and more lucrative physical sports such as football and baseball.
While the shift from a conversational society to a digitally connected one has seen its share of casualties in the social fields all is not lost. There are many instances in which technology has helped bring people together in ways that previously were not possible. Additionally there are numerous outlets available to otherwise unrecognized talents to express their thoughts, opinions and ideas. All of these sources have allowed new forums for the written word to flourish, another skills that was nearly lost not so long ago. As with all things involving technology today we must be mindful of where we were without the tools of technology we have today and pay homage to a simpler, slower and more relaxed time if we cannot return to it. Perhaps the art of conversation is lost, but that has opened up not arts and talents for us to explore should we chose to do so.
Learn more about this author, Joseph Whalen.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.
No
Conversation is simply defined as spoken words between people. When conversation is understood between said people and there's an ebb and flow that exists, then we are in the presence of communication and all the wonderful ways in which to express ourselves more effectively. It's he said and she said, back and forth. There's a symmetry that flows with ease and eloquence.
Communication doesn't always mean words. There's often body language that's added into the mix of any conversation. We've all witnessed the person that can't speak without their hands in full swing. It facilitates the one speaking by allowing the hands to accentuate the conversation, therefore shedding more light on the topic of discussion.
Adding to the debate surrounding conversation, is the Internet itself, and the many ways in which to connect with one another, yet speak even fewer words. We can stay in touch with others simply by clicking our mouse and yet never really speak to those in our "contact" list. It takes the word acquaintance and stretches it to an altogether different level.
In the 19th Century, conversation was as eloquent in its manner and appropriate in its era, and yet today it would be considered long winded when compared to our current manner of speech. For instance, LOL would mean laugh out loud; however in 19th century, one would have just laughed out loud if they overheard something humorous, and would have spoken of how funny that was by going into detail, allowing for that person to laugh at what made them laugh.
Conversation is not a lost art. It's the manner in which we choose to converse that's dying away. We all carry some form of communication device, be it a blackberry or the popular I-phone. There's texting that's quickly becoming the norm for our youth. Instant messaging long ago replaced the quick phone call from years gone by. There are so many options available to us as a society; we need not even speak if that's our choice.
What would our forefathers think of all the advancements made in technology, where we have all these intricate devices that speak for us in ways we can't if unavailable, or won't because quite frankly, we don't want too. Would speeches such as Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address been simply texted to avoid the need of his presence? What kind of impact does text messaging have that could even compare to the presence of a human being?
Conversation is how we inspire one another in ways that no amount of technology should replace. Where would we be as a nation, had we not been inspired by the speech President Kennedy made when he spoke, "Ask not what your country can do for you, but rather, what you can do for your country". At the time, I was but a child, but the feeling that came over me has long since remained.
Is it not our purpose and intention by way of conversing with others to convey our thoughts, feelings and ideas through conversation? As a society, to further explore this downward spiral of events, one will have to ask what went wrong. Has the art of conversation died because we've allowed outside devices to speak for us, or has it died because we have nothing to say? Without mere words, where would writers be? We are an extension of all that surrounds us. How best would one convey that, then through conversations and words that flow between us all?
Be an observer when you engage in your next conversation. Pay attention not only to your words, but to those that are listening as well. How well you converse will be apparent in how they further engage you into a more in-depth conversation. It's only a dying art because we've allowed it.
Learn more about this author, Melody Hearndon.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.
Difference of opinion? Debate now.
