Cell phones made me lose my faith in humanity

The sad thing is that I didn't realize I had any faith to begin with.

I became aware of this loss very recently. It was a gradual process, a process I believe that started at least a couple of years ago, back when I was still in school. I was on the campus shuttle, the one that loops around the... campus... around and around and around and around... but I digress. Anyway, a girl is talking someone's ear off on her cell phone, as well as everyone else's ear in the whole goddamn shuttle. Cell phone technology has improved from "the Brick" of the 80's. It is not necessary to yell into the receiver to have yourself be heard. I told her to shut the fuck up, because no one else was doing it. She got quieter, to her credit as a human being. The thing that astounded me about the whole situation, aside from this girl's idiocy, was the fact that no one in that entire bus said anything to this girl before I got on.

As much as cell phones have facilitated communication between people, it has also had the reverse effect of isolating people more than ever. The ability to call anyone from anywhere is also the ability to avoid people. In a society where everyone is so paranoid of everyone else and the only incentive to talk to another person is to get fulfill a selfish desire, we have gotten so good at thinking that we're so much more connected when we're actually more alone than ever. Myspace? Facebook? It's a pale representation of what a true human to human relationship is. It's easy to sit at home on your laptop and list your interests, favorite movies, whatever, on your Myspace profile, instead of sitting down with an actual person, asking questions, being surprised and overwhelmed by getting to know someone for real, instead of just faux. It's too easy.