Depressing, but I suspect true

I had some time to myself last night, after the kids went to bed (and my hubby was traveling), so I downloaded a bunch of podcasts and went to work around the house.

So, I listened to a Diane Rehm episode last night that confirmed my fears. We, as a people, are so plugged in to our various devices (ipod, anyone?) that we are slowly losing touch with each other. And, also, that we are just skimming the surface when it comes to understanding complex issues because we don't have any quiet time anymore to sit and figure things out. The idea of sitting quietly by ourselves to do some deep thinking about a complicated subject is almost a foreign one. That is why our news broadcasts are more concerned about what the "fist bump" means than what the true differences are in the candidates' health care policies. We, as viewers/listeners, often find the health care debate (or other policy debate) so hard to understand that we tune out, searching instead for a lighter fare. I don't want to say we're get dumber, but maybe we truly are. We fill up and fill in every waking moment with something: the TV, the Internet, an ipod, a video game, the radio... And these things are generally solo activities, which is slowly eroding our ability to personally and physically interact with each other.

It was a depressing show, but a very good one. I would recommend it. It aired on 6/16 and was called Distraction and Democracy.