10/08/2024
I got this from another group focused on family estrangement. Since I have been struggling with this phenomenon myself, it made a lot of sense and verified my working theory. The person who shared this does not want to be identified but here is what they posted.
“I shared a meal with an old friend recently. He is a well respected Psychologist. During the meal he ask, 'How's the family?' I took a slow breath and replied I don't know. I haven't seen or heard from them in nearly 10 years. His response left me speechless. Here are his words.
The computer age disabled the emotional centers of our youth. They can find answers to questions in 10 seconds, but have no idea how to cope with or process feelings or, emotions. Computers taught them history, math, science and geography, but nothing about human nature, problem solving, feelings or compassion. They're lost when it comes to those things, and anger is one of the few emotions they allow themselves to feel. Computers let them avoid the messy parts of life. Things like disappointing a friend or loved one, the passing of a pet, the loss of a loved one or an unpleasant life experience. They do poorly at those things and class them as negativity, which they avoid. They feel money is the answer. Buying new things fills there time and distracts them from the painful parts of life and lets them avoid it, for awhile. Working from home, screening calls, isolating themselves, no idea how to compromise or negotiate, and a world that deliveres anything, anytime to your door, with minimal human contact, is not going to end well. The result, they are becoming like machines, with no idea they've discarded their true purpose of loving and being loved. He also stated, he feels the younger generation will at some point be faced with a huge crisis of trying to cope with real life, with very limited people skills to accomplish the task and no older generation to guide them. He made it clear that parents didn't cause this and tho technology is beneficial, it comes at a huge cost to relationships.”
