I think have been spending too much time alone and on my computer.
Why do I think this, you ask?
Well, I'm starting to communicate better in writing than I am orally.
I noticed this a few weeks ago while we were with friends for the weekend. I found myself stumbling over words, unable to put sentences together in a witty or even interesting manner. I found it difficult to explain what I wanted to say without sounding like a seven-year old doing a book report in front of class. What I really wanted to do was whip out my computer and type it out...That's when I started to wonder ... am I losing my ability to communicate in person?
I do spend an enormous amount of time reading, researching, surfing, blogging, emailing, texting my daughters who only communicate by text - all of which depends on writing. Easy enough - you can always re-write what you want to say until it comes across as it was intended. (Although I am not always successful in this endeavor.)
In other words, much of my communication allows for a re-write.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
26 comments:
I know just what you mean Nancy...I have the same "problem" or maybe we're just enhancing another aspect of ourselves??
oo yeah no rewrites when you open your mouth...yikes...smiles.
I am with you on this Nancy...I find that these days I write much better than I speak. This year, I decided to make a special effort to socialize more and get back into talking with people:):) I can be such a hermit at times:)
And then add in trying to get good at communicating in a new language where I really AM like a four year old!
Right there with you Nancy...but ...must say that what you communicate here makes up for any and all that you might feel you are fumbling with verbally. Thanks Nancy...for being here, and for letting your feelings show. It seems to me that we have been suppressed from allowing what we are feeling at the moment to flow out of us. My brother who is going for a second job interview today was told by an HR friend to keep his emotions in check during the interview...oh heavens...are they looking to hire robots?...can no one share a feeling? Or show some human emotion? When did this all happen...and perhaps this is the reason.. more so than just being on the computer...that we stumble over our words?
I can SO relate to what you're saying. My daughter only communicates with text messages, too, and I have to go on her Twitter account, just to see what she's up to. But, I agree that too much time on the computer can be a bad thing, and not only for personal communication. I saw on ABC news, just yesterday, that spending 6 hours sitting in front of a computer a day, will not only compress your spine, but create circulation problems that can cause heart attacks and strokes. It's a wake-up call!
Maybe soon we will just stop talking all together and communicate telepathically. That way we just send intuitive information so it doesn't matter how you phrase it. :)
Oh how many times in a real life conversation have I wished for a do over! A re-write would be so awesome some days. I have always been better on paper than in real life and my oldest son is the same way. I just thought it was a family trait and not due to spending too much time online. Before the internet I was a letter writer...even wrote to my husband for those difficult conversations instead of doing it verbally. Now I can send him a note on Facebook! lol!
But if your writing becomes better, maybe your speaking will become better, too. If you're being asked to say something, maybe you'll learn to take the time to do a mental re-write before you speak.
One can always live hopefully.
you propose a very interesting question here, nancy. i spend a lot of time on the computer writing and will pay attention in the coming days to see if my verbal skills are affected.
i can so relate to this! i'm finding that what sounds perfectly "fine" to me in my head doesn't always come out the way it was intended. when i'm telling a wry joke (or making a sarcastic statement about myself), i can always add "grin" after it to show it's a joke. but, when i say it out loud not everyone gets it. that makes it hard.
I know. I was trying to find out about a class I want to take, and all they had was a phone number to call. I was frantically looking for an email address...
Hmmm I have wondered about that myself, not so much because I have noticed a decline in my oral ability but sometimes I think when I have to have a long phone conversation with someone, "Well, why didn't you just text me or Facebook me..." I find the computer does let us get our say and yes, it is easy to correct...hmm....I will watch this.
You know it's bad when you start saying things like "OMG and LOL!"
I'm addicted to my computer and can sit in front of it for hours at a time. Sometimes I have to force myself to sit outside!
Yay! I am with you, Jen!!
Telepathy is where it's at, Nancy. ♥
I think that sometimes it's easier to write out what we are thinking or feeling because there is no intimidation when we are writing.
I'd much rather communicate by email than pick up the phone. it's a good question for which I have no answer.
I completely agree, but it's always been that way for me. I can communicate better in writing than orally. I think that's why I enjoy blogging so much.
I hate to put a different spin on this, but I've begun to suspect that I prefer writing ( although I always have) because at some point the right words or work-around will occur to me and that's what gets presented to the world; whereas when I talk, my memory for standard words and people's names and where-I-was-going-when-I-started-this-sentence is now completely in the--you know, porcelain, lid goes up and down...you know.
It shouldn't be problem. Sometimes we're better at the written than the spoken. We have a chance for...the rewrite.
I've always been better at communicating in writing than orally - but even so, I've noticed over the last few years that my speaking skills have declined. I'm awfully afraid it's an age-related thing, although in my case, it surely must be partly due to living in an environment where I don't get a lot of English input.
It's as though the pendulum has swung the other way for our kids, though. Even with the shorthand of e-language, they have developed their communications skills in ways no one would have imagined.
Although I still seem to be able to talk to people, I have noticed that I no longer am able to write in longhand without it looking like something written by a kid who is just learning! I guess we have to keep on practicing in order to remember how to talk, write in script, etc.
Great question, Nancy! I'm unemployed right now and spend the majority of my life writing, online, or reading. Even with a husband I can go a full day saying fewer than 10 sentences. What happens to me, though, is when I am around people I hve the social skills of a 7 year old- interrupting, talking too fast...I think I'm so happy to be verbally communicating again!
Still, I don't think it's a good thing for this generation. When the majority of their friends are on a social network not in the neighborhood? They're growing up without real social skills.
Oh how I wish I could rewrite my verbals.... Thought provoking.
Hi Nancy,
Excellent post, good luck with your research and writing.
Please call by my blog and pick up your awards.
I hope you enjoy passing them on as I have.
Its a pleasure to visit you and read your posts.
Love,
Herrad
It's even worse when you try to scroll back to remember a conversation. ;)
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