Are we losing our basic ability to differentiate between what is valuable and what is not?
When we interrupt our conversations, meetings, and lunches to check our phones, we are sacrificing something real and valuable for something unknown and quite possibly worthless. Why are we so willing to abandon what is “in the room” for what is “in the cloud”?
Perhaps we have forgotten that conversations have value, that we build our personal and professional relationships through small talk and casual conversation, that we learn to see and understand the world differently through dialogue with our coworkers and friends.
Perhaps we have forgotten that it is foolish to abandon real value for the possibility of value.
Consider this:
Would you throw away your gourmet lunch to see what might be in the fridge? Would you give away all the money in your wallet to see what might be hiding in your couch cushions? Would you quit your job to see if there might be a better job online?
Of course not. Finish your lunch first. You can always check the fridge later.
Next time you are in a conversation and feel the urge–or are prompted by a notification–to check your phone, ask yourself this: Where is the real value, in the room or in the cloud?