Three years have gone by, and I still have yet to send or receive a text message. I’m trying to live my whole life without doing either.
https://leeduigon.com/2015/10/13/im-back-but-not-for-texting/
Between public schooling and Hollywood, the war against the human mind is being won by the bad guys. There won’t be much left of the mind, by the time they’re done with it.
But for now–be eccentric! Talk to someone face to face!
Not to worry. I do not do texting either, and believe it or not, I am still around. I can spend more time in prayer and Bible study without all that stuff.
Meanwhile, what’s so wrong with talking on the phone? I would love for friends to call me instead of just getting calls from robots and scam artists. Why don’t these people use their phones for talking anymore?
One problem I see with our age of continuous “connection” is that it can be very distracting. We get phone calls, text messages, emails, etc. pretty much all the time, even if we don’t want them.
Distraction is not harmless, it can keep us from thinking matters through thoroughly. It makes it hard to concentrate on anything long enough to form complete thoughts. Learning becomes all but impossible.
This is just one facet of our culture’s decline, but it’s a doozy.
Wow kudos to you. I probably handle hundreds of texts each week as a pastor of young people
I mainly text when I need to reach family and calling isn’t possible (like when my husband is at my daughter’s taekwondo class and there is a no talking on the phone rule–it’s disruptive to the class.) I have to say, I’ve been grateful this week for the ability to text my dad. He lives in Panama City Beach Florida. He was finally able to let me know his condo unit endured the hurricane. Cell coverage is still too spotty and weak there for calls to stay connected, but brief texts are possible. It’s the only way I have to reach him right now. Texting is just a tool. Used with common sense it’s a helpful one.
The technology is useful. My objection is how it’s used, or more to the point, misused. There are people that send texts with no concern regarding the effect they will have on the recipient. I’ve gotten texts while I was in a meeting or otherwise occupied and the sender was indignant that they didn’t get a immediate response.
Texts are insecure, which is not a problem in many cases, but texting credit card numbers, passwords, PINs, etc. is to invite disaster. ANY form of communication which is not secure should be used very carefully. I request that people use email whenever possible, which is still insecure (unless encrypted) but has several operational advantages over texts, such as ability to selectively quote, search through old emails, etc.
I don’t get it when people demand an instant response, that is annoying. Like the phone or any other form of communication, I will respond when I can. The technology is helpful, but it doesn’t rule my schedule
That’s a sound policy. Considering that a long-distance phone call was an event when I was growing up, we’ve come a long wayside the last 50 years, but a lot of people don’t make any effort to control their use of communications technology, and that’s not good.
When I was in high school, a memorable event was when my father received a phone call from someone out in Idaho. It seemed nothing short of spectacular.
I remember that a long-distance call to any out of town relative was a BIG deal. Everything in the house stopped. Operators were involved and careful timing as well.
It’s not all bad; I have to say that calling a faraway friend or relative while driving with the top down is not the worst thing I could imagine, but the !!*&# thing ringing at all hours is the downside.
At my former job, my desk phone was frequently forwarded to my cell and I got solicitation calls constantly. My all time favorite was from “Tech Support”, calling to tell me of some dire problem with my computer. Usually the person had a strong, strong accent and struggled to be comprehensible, but they were the “only way” to save my Windows computer. When I explained that I used Mac OS and Linux, they didn’t miss a beat.
I had a running feud with one of these guys which lasted for months. They knew I was a SysAdmin and that if they could fake me into giving out my credentials they would hav struck gold. I used to counter by asking if their grandmothers would have been proud of their occupation.
Believe it or not, one guy actually sort of broke down and admitted that he was a villain. I told him that being a hero is never easy, but that he should seek honest work and he would become a hero. Then I sincerely wished him well. I’ll never know if I made a difference, but at least I tried.