Visions of the future

In today's world, a global community, our Earth is one completely interwoven network of humanity, where any country or even continent is as easily accessible (give or take a few thousand dollars) as any city that would previously have been the extent of a person's private travels. Our generation, one that constantly lives in a world filled with communication, linked across the planet by so many means: phones, faxes, e-mails, Facebook, blogs, forums, the internet itself. News that is discovered in Sydney (Australia) can be read in New York at the same time as in Melbourne, or anywhere else for that matter.

In this culture, this never before seen lifestyle, the way that we interact has changed, the way that information passes is totally different and humanity has irrevocably become a species that moves at an increasingly rapid pace. Youth and young adults, instead of spending time outside, at the local playground or cafe, now sit for hours before their computers, indeed chatting with the same number of people yet in a series of private one on one conversations with people from all over the globe. In this time, one's friends are no longer limited to the same suburb, school or even city... but one's private circle can extend to the far reaches of humanity, allowing links between all people, regardless of social, ethnic or even language barriers.

One has to wonder if this is indeed healthy.

Will there come a time where people will be able to work from home, have weekly supplies delivered to their front door, and indeed forgo the need for human interaction? In a coming age, where books will be replaced by micro diskettes; where movie goers will be able to sit amongst the action instead of merely watching it; where war will be waged by giant robots controlled by men in suits, miles away, will human interaction reach a point where we will not need to simply hang out? Will the laughter of children playing together at a playground fade? Will the sight of awkward couples seeing each other home on a tram disappear? Will the roving groups of young adults, fresh from their churches, become a sight forgotten?

I certainly hope not... and yet... I wonder. It's a lot harder to meet people these days... and even as the sheer number people entering this world increase, humans are becoming more and more lonely... stolid faces amidst a gray crowd of strangers.

A weapon? Or a result?