It’s good to talk…..

With Megan my daughter studying for her OU degree in Biology, the New Scientist has been one of the recommended reading texts.  Whether it was in a clear head moment or perhaps one of the tips from a photoreading seminar I do not know, but the following letter caught my eye.  The photoreading tip is looking for the key words that are relevant to you when flicking through material.  In my case it’s conversation, face to face, connections (have to be selective here – a lot of technological stuff!), talking, meetings (of the actual in person kind mainly, virtual to a degree) – I trust that you get the gist!

The letter from the 25th January New Scientist

It’s good to talk

From Ruth Haas, Sandia Park, New Mexico, US

Luis Bettencourt’s vision of the next great urban revolution (14th December 2013 p.30*) brings to mind science fiction movies in which physical contact and space are reduced to a minimum and there is extensive mind control.  We are already on our way to the first state.

What the internet, emails and texting provide is faux social interaction, or as the MIT psychologist and researcher Sherry Turkle puts it, we are talking at each other rather to each other.  In such forms of communication we aren’t holding conversations in all their messiness, which allows for a true exchange.  Do we really want an urban world in which such interpersonal communication is an anachronism?

After reading this and then writing this am I adding to this vision or am I advocating that people need to get together and talk/communicate?

With time always being at a premium and the ease and simplicity of social media, email satisfying our need/requiremest to be able to say (and record) that we have been in touch with someone we could well be losing that all important element of talking to, as opposed to at.

My plug!  Organised networking events are a great way to ensure that we continue to have those conversations that lead to better relationships based on trust leading to collaborations, the free exchange of new ideas that create value and understanding.  There is a super article in the recent GQ magazine – titled GQ’s 100 most Connected Men 2014 – which really emphasises this fact.  here’s a snippet…

The era of traditional, top-down power is over; today’s achievers operate in a free-flowing exchange of ideas, using social media and personal networks to create value and understanding. And so GQ has partnered with Editorial Intelligence, the global leader in leveraging intelligence, to create the first annual UK 100 Most Connected Men. Below are the five types of Connectors we uncovered, and the experts who help us compile the list. We thank them for sharing…

Your comments are most welcome – is conversation face to face on borrowed time?

Does a proliferation of networking events mean it is not?

Are networking events only useful when you’re not busy?

Face to face conversation takes too much time and effort?

It’s not about the conversations it’s about the connections, the likes, the favourites, the retweets?

*Four simple principles to plan the best city possible